KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An old building on UMKC’s campus is now gone to make room for a parking lot. Not everyone is thrilled about the loss of the old chancellor’s home.
Construction crews started tearing down the chancellor’s house on Friday and now there’s already nothing but dirt. The UMKC chancellor’s house has been on the demolition list for a while. No one has lived in it since 2008. A $400,000 renovation about 12 years ago. UMKC says most of that was to make the building ADA accessible since the home was often used for special events.
The Kansas City Historic Society agrees that the old Tudor style home was beautiful but it did not have a historical designation so it didn’t fight the demolition.
“Obviously, we would have liked to see a different outcome here but we do have to focus our efforts,” said Ex. Dir. KC Historic Preservation Amanda Crawley.
“There’s always a little bit of sadness when you see a structure like that go but you have to offset that with the excitement of what’s coming,” said Assoc. Vice Chancellor of Administration Bob Simmons.
What’s coming to UMKC will be state of the art and custom built for the School of Business so that it can offer more interactive and hands on learning.
The Bloch School of Business says it badly needs the additional space because the enrollment is expected to more than double in the next five years. That’s partly because of the school’s growing reputation nationally and internationally.
