Saturday, October 09, 2010

The Cosby Hotel - b. 1881 - d. ????


[click on any of the pics to embiggen and explore the luscious detail]

The 139 year old Cosby Hotel at 9th and Baltimore is one of the oldest buildings in Kansas City and deserves to be preserved.


But it seems that the current owner may be more interested in selling a vacant lot at a prime downtown location than preserving history.


Apparently the only options are finding a buyer or putting it under the wrecking ball.


This is so puzzling because the property isn't in the middle of a blighted neighborhood where all of the other buildings are falling apart.


Far from it. The 9th St. corridor west of Main is thriving. The historic facade could be preserved and incorporated into a new building.




The owner of The Cosby recently had all of the windows removed from the building. Whether that was to remove a potential flying glass hazard during demolition or merely to hasten the natural deterioration of the building is unknown.


But it did offer an unprecedented and never to be repeated ghostly view into 139 years of Kansas City history.










The other day I made swing by The Cosby and found that all of the windows were now boarded up.


Does this mean that possible preservation has trumped greed and neglect?

Let's hope so.

ACKNOWLEGMENTS: David Remley at Hyperblogal challenged me to conduct this photo essay and his encouragement and advice have been invaluable. To the extent that this essay doesn't suck, thank you Dave! To the extent that it does suck, that's all on me.

4 comments:

kcmeesha said...

not bad for an amateur! I thought the first photo looked like something you usually find on the antique postcards.

I Travel for JOOLS said...

Restored hotels like this one could be are exactly the type I want to stay in when traveling. I hope they save it. Great pics.

Hyperblogal said...

Good job. Nice selection of shots showing off the grand old building. Too many people just can't get it through their thick old heads that when these buildings are gone they're GONE... looking forward to your future posts!!!

Xavier Onassis said...

m.v. - Thanks! I learned a lot from Dave!

JOOLS - Thank you!

Dave - Thank you VERY MUCH! For the kind words, your time, your patience and your generosity. Much appreciated. Pretty sure I owe you lunch, drinks or both!