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Pioneering Kansas City Architect Dies at 90

By Laura Spencer

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-655081.mp3

Kansas City, MO – Ralph E. Myers, Sr, the founding partner of the Kansas City architectural firm that broke new ground in modernist architecture and in the design of professional sports stadiums, died Monday. KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.

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At a time when most stadiums were built as multi-use venues, the design of the Truman Sports Complex in the late 1960s with separate side-by-side stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals was considered innovative and established the reputation of the Kansas City architectural firm Kivett and Myers, founded by Clarence Kivett and Ralph E. Myers, Sr.

Between 1945 and 1975, the firm designed award-winning projects from the Palmer House in Chicago to the terminals and control tower at Kansas City International Airport. In 1975, Kivett retired and the firm merged with HNTB where Myers became a partner. Some of the firm's architects went to the architectural firm HOK. And HOK Sport and HNTB have designed most of today's modern stadiums and ballparks.

Ralph E. Myers, Sr. died Monday morning after an extended illness at the age of 90. Memorial services will take place Friday afternoon. Laura Spencer, KCUR News.

The Ralph E. Myers Scholarship Fund, an architectural scholarship, has been established in his name by the Kansas City Architectural Foundation. Donations to this fund may be made through the American Institute of Architecture offices, 104 W. 9th St., Suite 101, Kansas City, Missouri 64105.

A memorial service will be held Friday, December. 7, at Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, 105th and Holmes, Kansas City, Missouri, at 1:00 PM.

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