1 Memorial Drive is the headquarters complex of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City covers the 10th District of the Federal Reserve, which includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and portions of western Missouri and northern New Mexico. The Bank has branches in Denver, Oklahoma City, and Omaha. The current president is...

.

The 618,000 square foot complex consisting of a 14-story tower and two-story base containing its cash processing and operations facilities was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an architectural firm that was founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei as I. M. Pei & Associates, in 1966 called I. M. Pei & Partners, and received its current name and organization in 1989. The founders were I. M. Pei, Henry N. Cobb, and Eason H. Leonard. Pei and Leonard retired...

 was dedicated June 11, 2008, and replaced its headquarters at 925 Grand

925 Grand

925 Grand is the former headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and was the oldest building in active use of any Federal Reserve Bank. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007....

. Henry N. Cobb

Henry N. Cobb

Henry N. Cobb is an American architect and founding partner with I.M. Pei of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, an international architectural firm based in New York City....

 was the lead architect.

The complex is located in Penn Valley Park

Penn Valley Park

Penn Valley Park is an urban park overlooking Downtown Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri.The park was developed in 1904 on land through which the Santa Fe Trail had passed. It contains two famous landmarks: The Scout and the United States' official World War I museum with its Liberty Memorial...

 opposite the Liberty Memorial

Liberty Memorial

The Liberty Memorial, located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, is a memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War I and houses the The National World War I Museum, as designated by the United States Congress in 2004.. Groundbreaking commenced November 1, 1921, and the city held a site dedication...

 on the site that was the former St. Mary's Hospital where ironically Jo Zach Miller, Jr.

Jo Zach Miller, Jr.

Jo Zach Miller Jr. was governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1916 to 1922.Miller was born on a farm near Austin, Texas. He attended Saint Louis University and returned to Texas where he was a prominent banker.In 1910 he moved to Kansas City where he became vice president for...

, president of the bank who oversaw the construction of 925 Grand, had spent his last days.

It was the first Federal Reserve buiilding built after the 9/11 Attacks prompted increased security at federal buildings.

The complex (which moved from Downtown Kansas City

Downtown Kansas City

Downtown Kansas City is the central business district of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. It is located between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line east to Troost Avenue as defined by officials of the...

) is in a park setting and its 15.7 acre property was landscaped by Laurie Olin

Laurie Olin

Laurie Olin is an American landscape architect. He has worked on everything from private residences to large public parks. Olin grew up in Alaska, and earned his degree in Architecture from the University of Washington, in Seattle where he was mentored under Richard Haag. After graduating he...

 of Olin Associates.

Money Museum

Included in the building is the Money Museum. Its most prominent exhibit is a 27-pound gold bar valued at $400,000 which visitors are permitted to pick up.

Other exhibits include a 463 piece coin collection on loan from the Truman Library which has coins from every Presidential administration. The coin collection originally was by Treasury Secretary John Snyder

John Snyder

John Snyder is an American film, stage and television actor that graduated from Boston University's School of Fine and Applied Arts with a BFA in 1974.Snyder played the gas station man in the 1979 film The Warriors...

 but was stolen in 1962. Snyder worked to replace it.

The museum also has a window in which visitors can see the movement of cash in and out of its vault.

IOU/USA Sculpture

In 2011 it was the target of numerous demonstrations during the Occupy movement protests. A 65 foot high sculpture by John Salvest from Arkansas State University

Arkansas State University

Arkansas State University is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system and third largest university by enrollment. It is located atop on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA...

 was temporarily erected on city property opposite the building that proclaimed "IOU" on one side and "USA" on the other. The sculpture was built with 117shipping containers

Containerization

Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...

. It was financed by the Grand Arts, a non profit art museum in the city's Power and Light District. The Federal Reserve sent bomb sniffing dogs to check the containers during the installation.