Kemper Arena is a 19,500-seat indoor arena located in Kansas City, Missouri. It has hosted NCAA Final Four basketball games, professional basketball and hockey teams, professional wrestling events, the 1976 Republican National Convention, concerts, and is the ongoing host of the American Royal livestock show.
It is named for R. Crosby Kemper Sr., a member of the powerful Kemper financial clan and who donated $3.2 million from his estate for the arena. In 2016, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its revolutionary design by Helmut Jahn.
The arena's name will change to Mosaic Arena, as part of an agreement to repurpose it into a regional amateur sports facility. The new name will be official when it reopens as the new facility.
History
Helmut Jahn's first major project rises from the stockyards
Kemper Arena was built in 18 months in 1973â€"74 on the site of the former Kansas City Stockyards just west of downtown in the West Bottoms to replace the 8,000-seat Municipal Auditorium to play host to the city's professional basketball and hockey teams.
The arena was the first major project of German architect Helmut Jahn who was to go on to become an important architect of his era.
The building was revolutionary in its simplicity and the fact it did not have interior columns obstructing views. Its roof is suspended by exterior steel trusses. The nearly windowless structure contrasts to Jahn's later signature style of providing wide-open, glass-enclosed spaces. Kemper's exterior skeleton style was to be used extensively throughout Jahn's other projects.
The building cost $22 million and is owned by the city of Kansas City, Missouri. Financing came from seven sources:
- $5.6 million from general obligation bonds
- $3.2 million donated by R. Crosby Kemper Sr.
- $575,000 from bond interest
- $1.5 million donated by the American Royal Association
- Land provided by the Kansas City Stockyards Company
- $10 million from revenue bonds in conjunction with the Jackson County Sports Authority
- $2 million in federal grants for street work
Glory days in the 1970s
The arena won architectural awards in the 1970s and had these very prominent tenants:
- 1974â€"1976 â€" Kansas City Scouts of the NHL
- 1974â€"1985 â€" Kansas City Kings of the NBA
- 1976 Republican National Convention (where Gerald Ford defeated Ronald Reagan for the nomination)
1979 roof collapse
On June 4, 1979, at 6:45Â p.m., a major storm with 70Â mph (110Â km/h) winds and heavy rains caused a portion of Kemper Arena's roof to collapse. Since the Arena was not in use at the time, no one was injured.
The collapseâ€"three years after the hall had hosted the 1976 Republican National Conventionâ€"along with another Kansas City structural failure, the 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapseâ€"shocked the city and the architecture world.
The American Institute of Architects had given the building an "Honor" award in 1976 [1] and thousands of its members were at its annual national conference there less than 24 hours before the 1979 collapse. Further, the collapse coupled with the January 18, 1978, collapse of the Hartford Civic Center from heavy snow in the early morning hours just after a University of Connecticut basketball game prompted architects to seriously reconsider computer models used to determine the safety of arenas.
The arena was one of the first major projects by influential architect Helmut Jahn who was to take over the Murphy/Jahn firm founded by Charles Murphy. Steel trusses that hung from three huge portals supported the reinforced concrete roof. Design elements had called for compensating for winds that caused the roof to swing like a pendulum. The exterior skeleton design had been considered revolutionary in its simplicity (it was built in 18 months).
Two major factors came together on June 4, to cause the collapse.
First, the roof had been designed to gradually release rainwater as the sewers in the West Bottoms could not adequately handle the rapid runoff because of the nearby confluence of the Missouri River and Kansas River. This caused the downpour to "pond" (where water fills in as the roof sagged) adding to the weight.
Second, there had been a miscalculation on the strength of the bolts on the hangers when subjected to the 70Â mph (110Â km/h) winds while supporting the additional rainwater weight as the roof swung back and forth. Once one of the bolts gave way there was a cascading failure on the south side of the roof. Although the bolts were enormous, the media was to make much of the fact that "one broken bolt caused the collapse."
Approximately one acre, or 200 ft (61 m) × 215 ft (66 m) of roof collapsed. The air pressure, increased by the rapidly falling roof caused some of the walls to blow out. However, the portals remained undamaged.
An investigation was conducted, and the issues were addressed and the arena reopened within a year.
College basketball mecca
In the 1980s the arena became famed for its basketball tournaments including:
- NCAA Men's Final Four in 1988
- NCAA Women's Final Four in 1998
- NCAA Regionals â€" in 1983, 1986, 1992, and 1995
- NCAA First and Second Rounds â€" in 1997, 2001, and 2004
- NAIA basketball tournament from 1975 â€" 1993
- Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament from 1977 to 1996
- Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament from 1997â€"2002 and 2005
- Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament in 2003 and 2004
Other professional sports
- 1981â€"1991 â€" Kansas City Comets of the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
- 1992â€"2005 â€" Kansas City Attack (later renamed the Kansas City Comets) of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and current Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL)
- 1990â€"2001 â€" Kansas City Blades, International Hockey League (1945â€"2001) (IHL)
- 2000â€"2005 â€" Kansas City Knights of the American Basketball Association (21st century) (ABA)
- 2004â€"2005 â€" Kansas City Outlaws of the United Hockey League (UHL)
- 2006â€"2007 â€" Kansas City Brigade of the Arena Football League
- 2007 â€" National Professional Paintball League (NPPL)[2] makes its 4th stop of the 2007 season at Kemper. The event will be the first NPPL event held with a field indoors.
- 2013 - Kansas City Renegades of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL)
Death of Owen Hart and aftermath
On May 23, 1999, Kemper Arena hosted the WWF (now WWE) pay-per-view Over the Edge, where WWF superstar Owen Hart fell to his death while attempting to descend from the rafters while in his superhero gimmick of The Blue Blazer. A few months later, Owen's brother, Bret Hart and longtime Hart family friend Chris Benoit had a tribute match in honor of Owen at Kemper Arena on WCW Monday Nitro.
1990s additions and renovations
Additional American Royal livestock buildings were built adjoining Kemper in 1991â€"92 at a cost of $33.4 million (the City of Kansas City built the original American Royal Arena in 1922 nearby for about $650,000)
In 1997, a $23 million expansion made significant changes to the original Jahn designâ€"most notably a glass-enclosed east lobby. Other changes include: 2,000 more seats, upgraded lower-level seating, four restrooms, and a handicapped entrance to the arena.
American Royal
The American Royal Association has hosted livestock events at Kemper since it was first constructed. The Royal also helped pay for the original building. Its office is located in the building along with the American Royal Museum. The American Royal Association is home to the American Royal Horse Show, Livestock Show, and Rodeo and which hosts a six-week festival each October to November.
Concerts
Facilities
The facilities in the complex, includes:
- Hale Arena â€" 5,000 seat capacity (17,000 sq ft.)
- Kemper Arena â€" 19,500 seat capacity
- The Governor's Building â€" 96,000 sq ft (8,900 m2).
- Lower Level Exhibition Hall â€" 86,000 sq ft (8,000 m2).
- Upper Level Exhibition Hall â€" 86,000 sq ft (8,000 m2).
- Wagstaff Theater â€" 450 seat capacity
- The American Royal Museum
- Scott Pavilion â€" permanent dirt floor animal warm up area
- West Bottoms Garage â€" 995 spaces
- Six Surface Parking Lots â€" approximately 4,500 spaces
See also
- List of National Basketball Association arenas
- List of National Hockey League arenas
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Jackson County, Missouri: Downtown Kansas City
- Sprint Center
References
- http://aurora.wells.edu/~mps/theses/cove.doc Danielle Cove Thesis "Structure: Form vs. Function" on collapse Archived by the Wayback Machine.
External Links
Kemper Arena's Website Archived by the Wayback Machine.