Kivett and Myers

Kivett and Myers was an architecture firm based in Kansas City, Missouri, whose work helped establish the city as an important center of modern architectural practice and sports-facility design. The firm began in 1931 as the sole practice of Clarence Kivett and became a partnership with Ralph E. Myers in 1945. Its portfolio ranged from commercial buildings, schools, churches, offices, hotels, and university facilities to major public infrastructure and professional sports venues. Clarence Kivett's early commissions included the Art Deco Katz Drug Store in Kansas City, designed in 1934 for his maternal uncles, Mike and Ike Katz. This project helped establish his independent practice during the difficult economic conditions of the Great Depression. Over subsequent decades, the firm designed projects across the Kansas City region and elsewhere in the United States, including the Cumonow Residence in Mission Hills, the Missouri State Office Building, Temple B'nai Jehudah, the Spencer Chemistry and Biological Sciences Building at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, the Fairmount Hotel, and the Mission Hills Country Club clubhouse. Kivett and Myers were committed to modernist principles and played a major role in introducing and expanding modern architecture in Kansas City. The firm's influence extended beyond individual buildings: during roughly three decades of practice, it received nearly half of the design awards presented by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Its staff and alumni later established or joined numerous important practices in the region, creating a long-lasting professional network. The firm's best-known work was in transportation and sports architecture. Kivett and Myers designed the terminal complex and control tower for Kansas City International Airport, using a distinctive C-shaped arrangement that placed gates close to the roadway. The firm also developed the Truman Sports Complex, home to the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals. Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium were conceived as separate baseball and football facilities sharing parking and other infrastructure, an approach that challenged the prevailing model of the large multipurpose stadium. The original concept also included a movable roof that could shift between the two venues, although the idea was not implemented in Kansas City because of cost and practical constraints. A recognizable feature of the firm's stadium work was the use of spiral ramps to carry spectators to upper seating levels. This feature appeared at Arrowhead Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, and the now-demolished Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The sports projects made Kivett and Myers influential beyond Missouri and helped shape later professional sports architecture. HNTB acquired Kivett and Myers in 1975. Clarence Kivett retired at the time of the transaction, while Ralph Myers became HNTB's first architectural partner. Projects underway around the acquisition included airport work in Lisbon and Munich. Myers remained with the successor organization until his retirement in 1982. Although the Kivett and Myers name disappeared as an independent practice, HNTB became its official corporate successor, while former employees went on to found or staff more than fifty architecture firms in the Kansas City area. These successor networks included BNIM and later sports-architecture practices associated with Populous and Ellerbe Becket.

Kivett and Myers developed from Clarence Kivett's independent architectural practice, established in Kansas City in 1931. Kivett had studied architecture at the University of Kansas and had previously worked for Kansas City firms including Madorie & Bihr and Hoit, Price & Barnes. After the latter firm released him during the economic pressures of the Great Depression, he began working independently. One of his earliest major commissions was the 1934 Art Deco Katz Drug Store at Main Street and Westport Road. The building was commissioned by Mike and Ike Katz, who were Kivett's maternal uncles, and demonstrated his ability to combine commercial requirements with a highly visible modern design. Ralph E. Myers joined Kivett's practice in 1940 after graduating from the University of Illinois. Following wartime work at North American Aviation, where he was responsible for plant design, Myers returned to the partnership. Kivett and Myers formally became partners in 1945. Together they expanded the firm's work across the Kansas City metropolitan area and the central United States. Their commissions included residences, department stores, schools, churches, public offices, university buildings, hotels, corporate facilities, and religious buildings. Examples included the Cumonow Residence, Macy's in downtown Kansas City, St. Ann Catholic Church and School, Southeast High School, Temple B'nai Jehudah, the Missouri Bar Center, Tucker Hall at the University of Missouri, and the Nunemaker Center at the University of Kansas. The partners were important advocates of modern architecture in Kansas City. Their buildings generally emphasized modern planning, functional organization, and structural clarity, while adapting those ideas to civic and commercial programs. Their success was reflected in the firm's unusually strong record with the local American Institute of Architects chapter: it received nearly half of the design awards granted by that organization during the partnership's active period. Kivett was elected an AIA Fellow in 1967, and Myers received the same distinction in 1964. The practice achieved its broadest recognition through transportation and sports projects. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, it designed Kansas City International Airport's terminals and control tower. The terminal plan used a C-shaped layout, placing gates close to the roadway and creating a compact relationship between vehicles, terminal buildings, and aircraft access. The design differed from the large centralized airport terminals common at the time. Kivett and Myers also played a central role in planning Kansas City's Truman Sports Complex. The project introduced separate baseball and football stadiums, rather than a single multipurpose venue, while allowing them to share parking and supporting infrastructure. Arrowhead Stadium, completed in 1972, became the home of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Kauffman Stadium, completed in 1973, became the home of the Kansas City Royals. The design team also explored a rolling roof that could move between the two stadiums. Although this feature was judged too expensive and impractical for the Kansas City project, movable-roof concepts later appeared in stadium developments elsewhere. Spiral spectator ramps became one of the firm's recognizable stadium-design features and were used at the Kansas City venues and at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The firm's work extended beyond Kansas City, including Giants Stadium and airport projects in Lisbon and Munich. In 1975, HNTB acquired Kivett and Myers. Kivett retired, while Myers continued within HNTB and became the engineering and architecture company's first architectural partner. Myers retired in 1982. The independent Kivett and Myers organization therefore ended, but its professional legacy continued through HNTB and through former employees who founded or joined many later Kansas City practices. More than fifty independent firms were associated with former Kivett and Myers personnel, including BNIM and sports-architecture groups that later became connected with Populous and Ellerbe Becket.

• 1982

  Ralph Myers retires

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  Ralph Myers retired from the successor organization after the Kivett and Myers practice had been integrated into HNTB.

• 1975

  Acquisition by HNTB

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  HNTB acquired the firm; Kivett retired and Myers continued as HNTB's first architectural partner.

• 1973

  Kauffman Stadium completed

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  Kauffman Stadium opened as the baseball venue of the Truman Sports Complex.

• 1972

  Arrowhead Stadium and Kansas City International Airport

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  Arrowhead Stadium opened as part of the Truman Sports Complex, while the firm's airport terminal and control-tower work shaped Kansas City International Airport.

• 1967

  Truman Sports Complex planning

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  The firm developed the concept for separate baseball and football stadiums sharing parking and infrastructure, with a proposed movable roof.

• 1945

  Kivett and Myers partnership formed

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  Kivett and Myers formally became partners, beginning the firm's principal period of growth.

• 1940

  Ralph Myers joins Kivett

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  Ralph E. Myers joined Kivett's practice after completing his architectural education and later wartime plant-design work.

• 1934

  Katz Drug Store commission

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  Kivett designed an Art Deco flagship Katz Drug Store at Main Street and Westport Road in Kansas City.

• 1931

  Clarence Kivett establishes an independent practice

  [1]Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org

  Clarence Kivett founded the Kansas City architectural practice that later became Kivett and Myers.

A modernist architectural practice combining civic, institutional, transportation, and commercial design with innovative large-scale sports-facility planning.

• Professional services · 1931

  Architectural design services

  The firm's core offering was architectural planning and design for commercial, civic, educational, religious, hospitality, transportation, and sports projects. Its work combined modernist design principles with practical planning for large public and institutional programs.

• Sports architecture · 1967

  Professional sports stadiums

  Kivett and Myers designed stadiums around separated venue functions, shared infrastructure, efficient circulation, and distinctive spiral ramps to upper seating. Arrowhead Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, and Giants Stadium are associated with this approach.

• Transportation architecture · 1972

  Airport terminals and control towers

  The firm's transportation work included the terminal complex and control tower at Kansas City International Airport, as well as airport projects in Lisbon and Munich. Kansas City's C-shaped terminal plan emphasized short relationships between road access and gates.

• 1975

  Integration into HNTBM&A

  Background

  Kivett and Myers remained a prominent Kansas City practice but had major airport projects in progress, including work associated with Lisbon and Munich.

  Action taken

  HNTB acquired Kivett and Myers. Clarence Kivett retired, while Ralph Myers became HNTB's first architectural partner.

  Aftermath

  The independent firm ceased operating under its own name. HNTB became its formal successor, and former employees helped establish numerous later Kansas City architecture and sports-design practices.

  Source

• 1967

  Separate-stadium strategy for the Truman Sports ComplexStrategy

  Background

  Large multipurpose stadiums were common, but Kansas City's project involved both a professional baseball team and a professional football team with different venue requirements.

  Action taken

  Kivett and Myers planned separate baseball and football stadiums that could share parking and supporting infrastructure. The concept initially included a roof that could roll between the two venues.

  Aftermath

  The separate-venue model became a defining feature of the Truman Sports Complex. The movable roof was not built because of cost and practical concerns, but similar concepts appeared in later stadium planning.

  Source

1. 1Kivett and Myersen.wikipedia.org