KANSAS CITY — The company that owns Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast’s headquarters is renovating the building. Pendergast’s arch-nemesis, the Kansas City Star, reported that the former Jackson Democratic Club building, 1908 Main St., is getting a $1.5 million makeover. The building’s present owner, Mission Peak Capital, a financial services firm, and its 10 employees will move into the building next month. Last October, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. During the 1920s and 1930s, Pendergast and his political machine ran Kansas City and Missouri, earning the building the title as the state’s unofficial capital. When the restoration is complete, the public will get access to a first-floor gallery space. The second-floor room where Pendergast plotted his political strategy with his henchmen has also been retained. An architect involved with the restoration, Doug Sstockman, told the Star he found no irregularities — or bodies — when inspecting the building’s foundation, which was made with the infamous Pendergast Ready-Mixed Concrete.
Tuesday, May 22, 11 a.m.
