TWA Corporate Headquarters' Building
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The TWA Corporate Headquarters Building, located at 1735 Baltimore Avenue in the
Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...
neighborhood of downtown
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
, was
Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...
headquarters until 1964, when the airline moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The selection of Kansas City as the headquarters for TWA (
Transcontinental Air Transport Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) was an airline founded in 1928 by Clement Melville Keys that merged in 1930 with Western Air Express to form what became TWA. Keys enlisted the help of Charles Lindbergh to design a transcontinental network t ...
after it merged with
Western Air Express Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexi ...
, initially T&WA) was said to have been made by
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
. The building was designed by architects Raymond E. Bales, Jr. and Morris Schechter and built by the Long Construction Company of Kansas City; site work began in May 1955, and construction was completed on October 31, 1956. The building's exterior was decorated in TWA's signature red and white corporate colors. The three-story L-shaped commercial facility was dominated by aluminum panels and corrugated concrete paneling. It was constructed using the Youtz-Slick construction method, in which steel support beams were first erected and then concrete slabs were poured at ground level and lifted into place by hydraulic jacks; the slabs were then bolted and welded onto the beams, which allowed for a reduction in construction costs and construction time. By 1964 TWA had become a major international figure in aviation, which prompted a move of the airline's executive offices to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The 1735 Baltimore building remained the headquarters for TWA's accounting department, ticket office, credit department, and cargo department until 1969; the airline continued to use the building for training its flight attendants until opening the Breech Academy in nearby suburban
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in 1969. In 2002 the TWA building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. It had been vacant for several years, though plans as late as 2003 called for it to be converted to residential condominiums under the name of TWA Lofts LLC. Instead, in early 2005, the Kansas City-based urban development firm The Nicholson Group hired local architectural firm el dorado inc to design and coordinate the restoration. Following the renovation, it was then leased to the Kansas City-based advertising agency Barkley Inc.; the agency moved into the renovated building on November 14, 2006.


TWA Moonliner II

During TWA's heyday, its headquarters building was easily identified by the TWA Moonliner II rocket that stood on the roof's southwest corner. It was modeled after the original , one-third scale
TWA Moonliner From 1955 through 1962, the TWA Moonliner was part of the first futuristic exhibit located in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. It was also an early example of modern product placement advertising by TWA's Howard Hughes teaming up with Walt Disney as t ...
at Disneyland's
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...
attraction; TWA was the Moonliner's corporate sponsor until 1962. The Moonliner II was then removed from the building's roof by TWA's new owners, shortly after
Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...
sold his controlling interest in the airline. The iconic rocket was then sold to SpaceCraft, a Kansas City, MO travel-trailer company. When SpaceCraft moved to Concordia, MO in 1970, the by then all-white Moonliner II moved with them. There it slowly fell into disrepair for the next 25 years, as it stood on a campground located nearby their travel-trailer manufacturing plant, just south of
Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...
between Kansas City and
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. The deteriorated Moonliner replica was then sold to and carefully restored by a longtime Disney collector, until once again sporting its original red and white TWA markings. The restored Moonliner II is now on display at Kansas City's
National Airline History Museum The Airline History Museum is an aviation museum located at the Kansas City Downtown Airport in Kansas City, Missouri focused on the history of airlines in the United States. History Founded in 1986 by aviation enthusiasts Larry A. Brown an ...
located at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport; at this location, the restored rocket stands about five miles (8 km) from its original TWA roof-top location. The historic restoration of the TWA headquarters building led to the fabrication of a brand new Moonliner II replica begun in March 2006 by the Kansas City office of the Bratton Corporation. The completed replica was installed on September 29 of that year at the same southwest corner roof location as the original.


See also

* TWA Administrative Offices Building


References

*Barton, Eric. "Incoming: A Rocket That Once Graced TWA's Office Heads Back To Its Spot Over Downtown." ''The Pitch'' weekly entertainment journal, August 17, 2006 issue, Kansas City, MO. No ISSN. *Haggerty, Jack. "The YABAR Chronicles (Yet Another Born Again Rocketeer)", ''Sport Rocketry'' magazine, July/August, 1996. No ISSN. 5-page article and Haggerty interview about Disney's 1955 Tomorrowland and TWA Moonliner attractions. *Janzen, Jeck E., and Janzen, Leon J. "Disneyland's Rocket to the Moon." ''The "E" Ticket'' magazine #24, Santa Clara, CA. No ISSN. 5-page article and Haggerty interview about Disney's 1955 Tomorrowland and TWA Moonliner attractions.


External links


Bizjournals on loft conversionCrossroads neighborhood tour (pdf)KCPL Library on Selection of KC for TWAPhotos and more information on the TWA Building at Nicholson Group
{{National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Missouri Trans World Airlines Airline company headquarters in the United States Air transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places Office buildings completed in 1956 Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Kansas City, Missouri Crossroads, Kansas City