2008 – Kansas Preservation Alliance

Endangered:
SBA/Menninger Tower Building

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 • 2022 | City/Town: • Topeka

A landmark in the western Topeka skyline, the building was constructed in 1930 to house the Securities Benefit Association Hospital. The design of the building was inspired by Independence Hall in Philadelphia and represents collaboration between a Chicago firm, Schmidt, Garden and Martin and Topeka architect Walter E. Glover. In 1961, the Menninger Foundation purchased …

Endangered:
Kansas Barns

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Central Kansas • Eastern Kansas • Northern Kansas • Southern Kansas • Western Kansas

Historic barns are a symbol of Kansas heritage and landscape. Of the first permanent buildings that farm families constructed, barns served a variety of functions integral to the survival and success of farms. By examining the various construction techniques and materials that were used, these vernacular buildings help to tell the history of Kansas. Vacancy, …

Endangered:
Bethany Place Landscape

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Topeka

This year’s list includes eight historic places, including the Bethany Place Landscape in Topeka, Kansas. Started in the 1860s as the College of the Sisters of Bethany, Bethany Place was the first women’s college in Kansas. Georgia Neese Gray, the first female US Treasurer is one of the college’s most notable alumnae. The present day campus still retains …

Endangered:
Old Abilene Town

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Abilene

Old Abilene Town is an example of an early heritage tourism site founded to help promote the western heritage of the town. Following the national model of Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village, Old Abilene Town represents a collection of buildings that were moved from their original sites in the early 1960s. Though the practice of moving …

Endangered:
Kansas Homesteads

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Central Kansas • Eastern Kansas • Northern Kansas • Southern Kansas • Western Kansas

The Homestead Act of 1862 made much of Kansas available for settlement. The Act provided farmers with 160 acres of land, provided they would live on the land for five years and improve it. Many of these settlers began in sod houses and then built frame or stone buildings depending on available local materials. Most …

Endangered:
Colonial Fox Theatre

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Pittsburg

Opened in 1920 as the Colonial Theatre, this Italian Renaissance Revival Building features Beaux Arts details and is the only remaining theater in Crawford County from the `Movie Palace’ decade of the 1920’s. Prominent local builder, Asa Messenger modeled the building after a theater in Kansas City and local craftsmen produced the stone, steel and …

Endangered:
Historic Brick Sidewalks

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Manhattan

Photo from Riley County Historical Museum Manhattan’s oldest neighborhoods stretch out over roughly 100 blocks and retain over 50% of their original brick sidewalks. These landscape features are roughly 120 years old. They complement and connect the area’s historic Queen Anne, Second Empire, Richardsonian Romanesque as well as Craftsman homes. Homeowners must provide maintenance for …

Endangered:
Fresh Air Baby Camp

Year(s) Listed: • 2007 • 2008 | City/Town: • Wichita

Photo from https://wichitaparksfoundation.org/fabc This Progressive Era building provided a refuge for infants whose health was at risk within the existing hospital system. Community members, principally women, rallied the Wichita community to construct the building and secured local builder George Siedoff to donate the required labor. Prominent local architect Lorenz Schmidt volunteered to design the building …

Year Listed: 2008