Photos show what downtown Kansas City urban renewal progress looked like in 1970s

Monty Davis
·1 min read

Editor’s Note: The Kansas City Star has an extensive photo archive filled with images of events, people and places that have shaped Kansas City. We’re sharing some of those images for a look back at memorable, or forgotten, moments in Kansas City’s history.

An area of downtown Kansas City known for theaters and night life in the mid-twentieth century had been determined to be blighted by the early 1970s.

Several vacant buildings that took up the entire block of 11th to 12th Street and Main Street to Baltimore Avenue were demolished in 1972 as city planners cleared the area for a new 30-story retail and office building that was to be called City Center Square.

The proposed building for block 92 was part of a master plan for the revitalization of the area within the downtown loop.

City City Square was completed in 1977 and has since been renamed the Lightwell Building.

See how a portion of the downtown loop was renewed in these photos.

These vacant buildings, in this 1972 photo, were located at the southwest corner of 11th and Main Streets and were later torn down to make way for the City Center Square building.
These vacant buildings, in this 1972 photo, were located at the southwest corner of 11th and Main Streets and were later torn down to make way for the City Center Square building.
Workmen labored through the night demolishing buildings north of the Towne Theater on Main between 11th and 12th Streets in 1972. The area, called Block 92, was determined to be blighted and a 32-story office building was approved for the site by the Urban Renewal agency and the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority. The block once was a center of theater night life.
Wrecking of downtown buildings on the west side of Main between 11th and 12th Streets for the Block 92 urban renewal project began in 1972.
Wrecking of downtown buildings on the west side of Main between 11th and 12th Streets for the Block 92 urban renewal project began in 1972.
An aerial view of Block 92 in Downtown Kansas City reveals the pools of water that had collected in the excavated areas prior to the completion of the City Center Square.
An aerial view of Block 92 in Downtown Kansas City reveals the pools of water that had collected in the excavated areas prior to the completion of the City Center Square.
Kansas City had a lake of greenish, stagnant water in the middle of its downtown. after heavy rains flooded the area where City Center Square was being constructed.
Kansas City had a lake of greenish, stagnant water in the middle of its downtown. after heavy rains flooded the area where City Center Square was being constructed.
Concrete floors go up as the City Center Square tower rises in the middle of downtown Kansas City in the mid-1970s.
Concrete floors go up as the City Center Square tower rises in the middle of downtown Kansas City in the mid-1970s.
The 30-story retail and office building was topped off in 1976 when the concrete was poured at the level from which this picture was taken. City Center Square, joined the ranks of Kansas City’s tallest structures, including the Kansas City Power & Light Building.
The 30-story retail and office building was topped off in 1976 when the concrete was poured at the level from which this picture was taken. City Center Square, joined the ranks of Kansas City’s tallest structures, including the Kansas City Power & Light Building.
The City Center Square opened in 1977 in downtown Kansas City.
The City Center Square opened in 1977 in downtown Kansas City.
The Lightwell Building, formerly known as City Center Square, was completed in the spring of 1977. The skyscraper takes up the entire block of 11th to 12th Street and Main to Baltimore.
The Lightwell Building, formerly known as City Center Square, was completed in the spring of 1977. The skyscraper takes up the entire block of 11th to 12th Street and Main to Baltimore.

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