Muehlebach Hotel
Encyclopedia
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...
that was visited by every President from Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
to Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. It is currently operated as one of three wings of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown.
History
The original 12-story building was constructed in 1915. It was designed by Holabird & RocheHolabird & Roche
The architectural firm of Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm's designs have changed many times — from the Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern Architecture to Sustainable Architecture.-History:...
and was 144 feet (44m) high and owned by George E. Muehlebach whose father, George E. Muehlebach Sr. founded Muehlebach Beer. The younger Muehlebach also built Muehlebach Field. It achieved its greatest prominannce under ownership of Barney Allis.
In 1952 a 17-story western annex and parking lot were added . The entire hotel was restored in the mid-1970s and operated for a time as the Radisson Muehlebach Hotel before closing in the 1980s.
Operation as a wing of the Marriott Kansas City Downtown
In 1996 Marriott Hotels bought the Muehlebach and made it into an extension of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown, a huge adjacent hotel built in 1985 as the Vista International Hotel. They implodedBuilding implosion
In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings...
the 1952 Muehlebach annex and built a new modern tower in its place in 1998. The original Muehlebach building was carefully restored, including the original lobby on 12th and Baltimore St.
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony SocietyBarbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. , is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Founded by Owen C...
(SPEBSQSA, Inc.) traces its beginnings to a chance meeting in the lobby of the Muehlebach between two businessmen from Tulsa, OK, in 1938. The two found two other men and sang their way through a snowstorm that had marooned them there. A few weeks later, they convened several like-minded singers at a meeting in Tulsa and the 25,000 member International organization was founded. The original meeting is commemorated on a plaque in the restored original lobby of the hotel.
Famous Guests
The Muehlebach was the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
headquarters for Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
during his frequent visits to his home in nearby Independence, Missouri
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
.
Truman stayed in Independence but conducted business in the Presidential Suite in the hotel's penthouse. Truman predicted his upset victory to staffers at the hotel during election night 1948 (although he spent the night out of the media spotlight at the Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs, Missouri
Excelsior Springs, Missouri
Excelsior Springs is a city in Clay and Ray counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 11,084 at the 2010 census. It is located approximately northeast of central Kansas City, Missouri.- Geography :...
). The Presidential Suite was later renamed the Harry S. Truman Presidential Suite following his terms of office.
Truman signed the Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere...
legislation aid for Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
at the hotel on May 22, 1947.
During the 1976 Republican National Convention
1976 Republican National Convention
The 1976 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States met at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, from August 16 to August 19, 1976. The convention nominated incumbent Gerald Ford for President, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California...
both Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
made pitches for delegates at the hotel.
Immediately following the 1976 Republican Convention, Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
was the Guest of Honor at the 34th World Science Fiction Convention
34th World Science Fiction Convention
The 34th World Science Fiction Convention was named MidAmeriCon and was held in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 2–6 September 1976, at the historic Radisson Muehlebach Hotel and nearby Phillips House hotel. The convention committee was chaired by Ken Keller, who had also chaired the "KC in '76" bid...
held at the hotel. He was booked in the Harry S. Truman Presidential Suite for the convention.
During the 1928 Republican National Convention
1928 Republican National Convention
The 1928 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15, 1928....
held across the street at Convention Hall
Convention Hall
Convention Hall was a convention center in Kansas City, Missouri that hosted the 1900 Democratic National Convention and 1928 Republican National Convention.It was designed by Frederick E...
. Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
frequented the hotel.
Among its other celebrity guests of the hotel were Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, the Beatles and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.