Since 2015, the Kansas City Museum has been working to restore and renovate its entire 3.5-acre property. This expansive and transformational project is a multi-year, multi-staged endeavor and so is Making A Museum KC, the capital campaign to strategically secure funding to complete the entire historic property and museum campus.
In October 2021, the Museum reopened Corinthian Hall, the 34,000 square-foot former mansion, after several years of architectural design by International Architects Atelier (IAA), exhibit design by Gallagher & Associates, construction by JE Dunn Construction, and exhibit fabrication and installation by Kubik Maltbie.
Currently, the Museum is actively working with IAA on architectural design to restore and renovate the remaining historic buildings and structures on the property including the Carriage House, Lodge (former Horse Trainer’s Home), Carpenter’s Shed, Pergola, Perimeter Fence and Gates, and Conservatory, which will become JewelHouse. The Museum is also working with IAA on the design of new experiences on the grounds including a James Turrell Skyspace.
The entire Kansas City Museum campus is the former private residence of lumber baron Robert Alexander (R.A.) Long and his family. Completed in 1910, the property originally included: Corinthian Hall, the mansion; a Carriage House with Paddock Area; the Horse Trainer’s Home; a Garden/Carpenter’s Shed, a Conservatory with a Pergola, a Greenhouse, and the Perimeter Fence and Gates. In the early 1950s, the Conservatory was transformed into a Planetarium, and in the 1960s, the Greenhouse was removed. The entire property became a public museum in 1940.