Kivett and Myers
Encyclopedia
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
architecture firm that pioneered the design of modern professional sports stadiums.
Clarence Kivett (born Clarence Kivovitch) graduated from the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
in 1928 and his first big design project was the art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
design of Katz Drug (which was taken over by Osco Drug
Osco Drug
Osco Drug is a chain of pharmacy stores which today operate as in-store pharmacies under SuperValu Pharmacies. Osco Pharmacy is found in Jewel-Osco, Albertsons, Shaw's and Star Market, while Sav-on Pharmacy is found in Acme and Albertsons. Since 2006, Osco is a wholly owned subsidiary of...
) at Main Street and Westport in 1934 in Kansas City (which was owned by his uncles Mike and Ike Katz).
He was joined by Ralph Myers in 1940. They went on to design the Cumonov Residence in Mission Hills, the Missouri State Office Building at 13th and Holmes, Temple B'nai Jehudah at 69th and Holmes, Spencer Chemistry and Biological Sciences Building at the University of Missouri–Kansas City
University of Missouri–Kansas City
The University of Missouri–Kansas City is a public university located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It is a branch of the University of Missouri System. Its main campus is in Kansas City's Rockhill neighborhood east of the Country Club Plaza...
and the Fairmount Hotel in the Country Club Plaza
Country Club Plaza
The Country Club Plaza is an upscale shopping district and residential neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It was the first shopping center in the world designed to accommodate shoppers arriving by automobile...
and the Mission Hills Country Club
Mission Hills Country Club (Kansas)
The Mission Hills Country Club is a private club and golf course in Mission Hills, Kansas.The Club, on the banks and hills of Brush Creek, was founded on June 30, 1914, largely through the efforts of J.C. Nichols, who was also developing the upscale planned community of Mission Hills...
clubhouse.
The two most prominent commissions came in the late 1960s and early 1970s with terminals and control tower at Kansas City International Airport
Kansas City International Airport
Kansas City International Airport , originally named Mid-Continent International Airport, is a public airport located 15 miles northwest of the central business district of Kansas City, in Platte County, Missouri, United States. In 2008, 10,469,892 passengers used the airport...
(a design layout with in "C" shape so that all gates were within a few feet of the road) and most importantly the Truman Sports Complex
Truman Sports Complex
The Harry S. Truman Sports Complex is a sports and entertainment facility located in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.. It is home to two major sports venues- Arrowhead Stadium, home of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, and Kauffman Stadium, home of Major League Baseball's Kansas City...
for Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
and Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
.
The initial design in 1967 called for the baseball and football stadiums to be built side by side sharing the same parking infrastructure as well as a rolling roof that was to slide from one stadium to the other. The concepts of separate stadiums for baseball and football was revolutionary at the time when stadiums were designed as gigantic multipurpose venues. The rolling roof was initially too expensive and too impractical in Kansas City however it was to be applied at several stadiums elsewhere in the decades that followed.
In 1974 the Kansas City architecture firm HNTB
HNTB
HNTB Corporation is an architecture and engineering consulting firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri that has designed many bridges, roadways, airports and professional sports stadiums across the United States and around the world.The firm started in 1914 as Harrington, Howard & Ash...
acquired the firm and went on to build several professional stadiums. Several of the firm's architects also went to the St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
architecture firm of HOK
Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
HOK is a global architecture, interiors, engineering, planning and consulting firm. HOK is the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm and the "No. 1 role model for sustainable and high-performance design." HOK also is the second-largest interior design firm...
, which opened its sports stadium division, now the independent firm Populous, in Kansas City. Together the two firms have designed most of today's modern stadiums and ballparks.