The Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center is a 153.62 m, 45-story hotel located in the Crown Center complex in Kansas City, Missouri. It was Missouri's tallest building from 1980 to 1986. It is now the state's sixth-tallest building and Kansas City's third-tallest building.
History
Opening
The hotel opened on July 1, 1980, as the Hyatt Regency Kansas City. It is part of the Crown Center complex, built by Hallmark Cards, adjacent to their headquarters, and southeast of the Downtown loop, where most of Kansas City's tallest buildings are located.
Skywalk collapse
On July 17, 1981, 114[4] people were killed in the Hyatt Regency when the fourth-floor walkway in the atrium collapsed on the second-floor walkway during a tea dance attended by more than 1,600 guests. An investigation revealed that tie rods supporting the walkway did not meet Kansas City building codes.[5]
Rebranding and renovations
The hotel went through a $5 million reconstruction following the collapse, replacing the skywalks with one large second floor balcony supported by massive pillars, with local authorities saying in 1983 that the building was now "possibly the safest in the country."[6] The hotel was renamed the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in 1987. Starwood took over the hotel November 30, 2011, renaming it the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center the following day and announcing $30 million in renovations and a $5,000 donation to The Skywalk Memorial Foundation.[7][8]
Facilities
The hotel has 42860 sqft of function space, a 17487 sqft ballroom and a dedicated exhibit hall with 15360 sqft. It has 733 guestrooms, including 42 suites.
The hotel was formerly topped by a revolving rooftop restaurant, Skies, which closed in 2011 along with the hotel's Peppercorn Duck Club when the hotel became a part of Starwood.[9] The former Skies restaurant reopened as the Sheraton Club Lounge, a private club.
External links
References
- Emporis building ID 121804 Emporis^
- {{SkyscraperPage|556}}^
- {{Structurae|20009667}}^
- Fire Research Division fire.nist.gov, retrieved 2024-12-31^
- Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse School of Engineering, University of Alabama, retrieved 14 September 2011^
- Paul J. Haskins. COLLAPSE OF HOTEL'S 'SKYWALKS' IN 1981 IS STILL REVERBERATING; IN KANSAS CITY The New York Times, 29 March 1983, retrieved 17 July 2021^
- Brenna Hawley. Sheraton, Starwood will donate to Hyatt skywalk memorial www.bizjournals.com, Kansas City Business Journal, 13 December 2011, retrieved 17 July 2021^
- Danny King. Hyatt Regency Kansas City to become a Sheraton Travel Weekly, July 20, 2011^
- Brenna Hawley. Three Crown Center restaurant closings signal changing tastes American City Business Journals, 12 October 2011^