Savoy Hotel

21c Museum Hotel

The Savoy Hotel has the distinction of being the oldest surviving hotel in Kansas. Built in phases from c. 1888 to 1916, it has served the traveling public almost continuously for over 130 years. By the early 2010s several floors had been converted to long-term residential apartments and the building suffered from significant deferred maintenance.  A kitchen fire that October closed the iconic Savoy Grill, the remaining guest rooms, and the few occupied residential apartments.  When the 21c Museum Hotel company had identified the Savoy Hotel as the Kansas City location to house their unique brand that marries historic buildings with contemporary art galleries, luxury accommodations, and fine dining, they hired Rosin Preservation to guide the project through the historic tax credit process and to ensure that the rehabilitation met the Secretary’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

The hotel’s age, multiple construction episodes, and existing conditions presented numerous challenges.  The Rosin team coupled archival research with intensive field investigation to understand the building.  Unique trim profiles distinguished the five historic building episodes; each of the profiles was retained, restored, and replicated, as appropriate, during the rehabilitation.   Rosin’s research also documented that many of the art glass windows along 9^th Street had been installed in the 1960s.  Their removal allowed for restoration of the façade to a more historic appearance.  The rehabilitation emphasized preservation of the character-defining first floor public spaces, most notably the iconic Savoy Grill and main lobby with its art glass dome.  Preservation of these elements allowed for other changes, such as the reconfiguration of the awkward main entry corridor and the addition of secondary “art walls” on which rotating selections from the owners’ collection are displayed.

The rehabilitated Savoy Hotel – now 21c Museum Hotel – Kansas City – is ready to welcome visitors to Kansas City for another century.