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Kemper Arena American Royal Center is an 19,500 seat indoor arena in Kansas City, Missouri that has hosted NCAA Final Four basketball games, professional basketball and hockey teams, the 1976 Republican National Convention, and is the ongoing host of the American Royal livestock show.

It is named for R. Crosby Kemper Sr., a member of the powerful Kemper financial clan and who donated $3.2 million from his estate for the arena.

Currently, it is the home of the Kansas City Brigade of the Arena Football League. The usefulness of the arena will effectively end in the fall of 2007 with the opening of the Sprint Center.

History

Helmut Jahn's First Major Project Rises From the Stockyards

Kemper Arena was built in 18 months in 1973-74 on the site of the former Kansas City Stockyards just west of downtown in the West Bottoms to replace the 8,000-seat Municipal Auditorium to play host to the city's professional basketball and hockey teams.

The arena was the first major project of German architect Helmut Jahn who was to go on to become an important architect of his era.

The building was revolutionary in its simplicity and the fact it did not have interior columns obstructing views. Its roof is suspended by exterior steel trusses. The nearly windowless structure contrasts to Jahn's later signature style of providing wide open glass enclosed spaces. Kemper's exterior skeleton style was to be used extensively throughout Jahn's other projects.

The building cost $22 million and is owned by the city of Kansas City, Missouri. Financing came from seven sources:

  • $5.6 million dollars from general obligation bonds
  • $3.2 million dollars donated by R. Crosby Kemper Sr.
  • $575,000 dollars from bond interest
  • $1.5 million dollars donated by the American Royal Association
  • Land provided by the Kansas City Stockyards Company
  • $10 million dollars from revenue bonds in conjunction with the Jackson County Sports Authority
  • $2 million dollars in federal grants for street work

Glory Days in the 1970s

The arena won architectual awards in the 1970s and had three very prominent tenants:

1979 Roof Collapse

On June 4, 1979, a major storm with 70 mph winds and heavy rains at 6:45 p.m. caused a portion of Kemper Arena's roof to collapse. Since the Arena was not in use at the time, no one was injured.

The collapse -- three years after the hall had hosted the 1976 Republican National Convention -- along with another Kansas City structural failure -- the 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse -- shocked the city and the architecture world.

The American Institute of Architects had given the building an "Honor" award in 1976* and thousands of its members were at its annual national conference there less than 24 hours before the 1979 collapse. Further, the collapse coupled with the January 18, 1978, collapse of the Hartford Civic Center from heavy snow in the early morning hours just after a University of Connecticut basketball game prompted architects to seriously reconsider computer models used to determine the safety of arenas.

The arena was one of the first major projects by influential architect Helmut Jahn who was to take over the Murphy/Jahn firm founded by Charles Murphy (architect). Steel trusses that hung from three huge portals supported the reinforced concrete roof. Design elements had called for compensating for winds that caused the roof to swing like a pendulum. The exterior skeleton design had been considered revolutionary in its simplicity (it was built in 18 months).

Unfortunately, two major factors came together on June 4, to cause the collapse.

The first issue was that the roof had been designed to gradually release rainwater because the sewers in the West Bottoms could not adequately handle the rapid runoff at the nearby confluence of the Missouri River and Kansas River. This caused the downpour to "pond" (where water fills in as the roof sagged) adding to the weight.

The second issue was that there had been a miscalculation on the strength of the bolts on the hangers when subjected to the 70 mph winds while supporting the additional rainwater weight as the roof swung back and forth. Once one of the bolts gave way there was a domino effect on the south side of the roof. Although the bolts were enormous, the media was to make much of the fact that "one broken bolt caused the collapse."

Approximately one acre, or 200 × 215 ft of roof collapsed. The air pressure, increased by the rapidly falling roof caused some of the walls to blow out. However, the portals remained undamaged.

An investigation was conducted and the issues were addressed and the arena reopened within a year.

College Basketball Mecca

In the 1980s the arena became famed for its basketball tournaments including:

Other Professional Sports

1999 Death of WWF Star Owen Hart

On May 23, 1999, Kemper Arena hosted WWF Over the Edge which is remembered as the site of WWF superstar Owen Hart's death. A few months later, Owen's brother, Bret Hart and longtime friend Chris Benoit had a tribute match in honor of Owen at Kemper Arena on WCW Monday Nitro. For more details on the accident see the Owen Hart's biography.

On April 21, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation returned to the venue for WWF Backlash where Hulk Hogan began his final reign as WWF Champion when he defeated Triple H in the evening's main event. This was also the last pay-per-view before the company changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment. This was also the first pay-per-view the company held after its "brand extension", in which the company was split into two different groups - RAW and SmackDown!

1990s Additions and Renovations

Additional American Royal livestock buildings were built adjoining Kemper in 1991-92 at a cost of $33.4 million (the City of Kansas City built the original American Royal Arena in 1922 nearby for about $650,000)

In 1997 a $23 million expansion made significantly changed to the original Jahn design -- most notably a glass enclosed east lobby. Other changes include: 2,000 more seats, upgraded the lower level seating, four restrooms, and a handicapped entrance to the arena.

American Royal

The American Royal Association has hosted livestock events at Kemper since it was first constructed. The Royal also helped pay for the original building. Its office is located in the building along with the American Royal Museum. The American Royal Association is home to the American Royal Horse Show, Livestock Show, and Rodeo and which hosts a six-week festival each October to November.

Facilities

The facilities are managed by Global Spectrum which is a Comcast subsidiary. Facilities in the complex include:
  • Hale Arena – 5,000 seat capacity (17,000 sq. ft.)
  • Kemper Arena – 19,500 seat capacity
  • The Governor’s Building – 96,000 sq. ft.
  • Lower Level Exhibition Hall – 86,000 sq. ft.
  • Upper Level Exhibition Hall – 86,000 sq. ft.
  • Wagstaff Theatre – 450 seat capacity
  • The American Royal Museum
  • Scott Pavilion – permanent dirt floor animal warm up area
  • West Bottoms Garage – 995 spaces
  • Six Surface Parking Lots – approximately 4,500 spaces

External links

Arena football venues | Basketball venues in the United States | Indoor arenas in the United States | 1974 establishments | National Hockey League venues | Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States | Sports in Kansas City | Sports venues in Missouri | College basketball venues | Kansas City metropolitan area | Engineering failures | Professional wrestling venues | Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament venues | NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four Venues

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Kemper Arena".

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