In an election held in Kansas City, Kansas, on Nov. 2, 1909, a $200,000 bond issue for a new city hall was carried by a vote of 1,316 to 960. The bonds were issued the following February. The half-block adjoining an earlier city hall on the south and fronting on 6th and Ann was condemned as a site for the new building. Rose & Peterson architectural firm was employed and the plans were accepted by the city council. The plans as adopted called for a three-unit structure for city and county offices, covering the entire 6th Street frontage. Only one unit of this, a four-story granite structure covering the southwest corner of the block, was to be built immediately. This would be for city offices. The plans anticipated that eventually a similar building would be built on the northeast corner of the block (by the county) and that the two units would be connected later by an auditorium. But the plans were not carried out. A Kansas City Times story in May 1910 pictured the building as seen on the old post card and commented: The plan for combining the city hall and county courthouse was abandoned because of the failure of the county commissioners to cooperate with the city government. In spite of this, the city went ahead with its plans and finished the building (as pictured) and occupied it until only recently. In May of 1973 the city moved to the handsome new block-long, fireproof building at 701 North 7th. Just opposite the new city hall are separate county offices, also occupying a block-long building, in an older five-story structure.Today the old city hall is used only as a headquarters for the Kansas City, Kansas, fire department and for storage. Kansas City Times, February 8, 1980.
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