These post cards were among dozens made of the new fireproof Convention Hall, build in 90 days after a fire had leveled the first Convention Hall April 6, 1900. The interiors view shows the area floor with tables set for a dinner of more than 1,000 persons. The interior of the new hall was different from that which had been destroyed. The old had wooden floors and wooden balcony supports. The new one had floors of concrete, supports of steel and a roof of tile. The new hall was the site of a wide variety of events. To prepare for a horse show, 500 tons of clay were placed on the floor and rolled with a steam roller. At the conclusion of the show, the clay was plowed up and carted away. For dancing and roller skating a hard maple floor made of 6- by 14-foot section was set in place. Sixty-four boxes encircled the oval floor space. On the first balcony were 5,000 opera chairs and on the second balcony 2,500 more. Higher up was a floor known as the “roof garden” which could accommodate 3,000 more persons. The stage, also made in sections, was used for dramatic and musical presentations. Dressing rooms had space for 300 persons. When the stage was erected and the hall arranged for an operatic or dramatic performance, the seating capacity was reduced. The absence of post left an unobstructed view of the stage. Adelina Patti sang to an audience which completely filled the building and Paderewski played to his largest audience. Mme. Pavlova, Russian ballerina, and her large troupe of dancers, performed in the ‘20s.The Lindsborg, Kan., choral group singing the Messiah by Handel packed the hall. The list of celebrities is long and impressive. Two national political parties chose the hall for conventions to nominate presidential candidates – the Democrats in 1900 when William Jennings Bryan was chosen and the Republicans in 1926 when Herbert Hoover was selected. The hall was built –in 90 days–to meet the deadline for the former, which had been scheduled in the hall that burned. The great society and public balls of the annual Priests of Pallas fall festival were held at the hall. In the flood of 1903, when the hall was opened as a place of refuge for those driven from their homes by rising waters, 1,500 people were temporarily fed and quartered there. All that summer, household goods and clothing were distributed by relief committees, using the hall as headquarters. The cost of the building, including furnishings, was $500,000. The hall was razed when the Municipal Auditorium, one block south at 13th and Wyandotte, was completed in 1935. Convention Hall’s site is now the Auditorium Plaza Garage. Kansas City’s first Convention Hall, located between 12th and 13th on Wyandotte (now the site of the Auditorium Garage) was built with private subscriptions through the efforts of members of the Commercial Club, forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce. A special meeting was held June 12, 1897. There had been discussion as to the need of a large auditorium in Kansas City. The necessity was especially felt when an exhibition of products manufactured in Kansas City was held in May and June of that year, and it was found there was no place in the city which would accommodate the crowds. Historian Carrie Whitener wrote: “Public-spirited citizens who attended a special meeting of the Commercial Club on the closing day of the Home Products Show subscribed nearly $30,000 to the fund for the purchase of the ground and erection of an auditorium. A committee of 15 was appointed secure the rest of the money required. No more aggressive and loyal work was ever performed than by this committee, the result being about $225,000 subscribed by the people of Kansas City and the surround country. “The name of the Convention Hall was chosen for the new building, and May 25, 1898, the ground was broken for the building. The formal opening of the hall took place on Feb. 22, 1899, with a concert by John Phillip Sousa and his band. The building was dedicated free of debt.” The property was incorporated under the name of the “Kansas City Convention Hall Company,” the stock being held by those who subscribed to the building fund. Par value of stock was $1 and there were 8,000 stockholders. Profits were put back into the building for repairs and permanent improvements. Prominent businessmen, elected annually by the stockholders, formed the 13-member board of directors, who served without pay. A year and two months later, on April 4, 1900, the building burned to the ground. Kansas City Times, January 12 1974.
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