After eight months of construction, the Connor Hotel annex was completed in February 1929. The nine-story, 160-room addition was the brainchild of Kansas City resident Barney Allis. At the time, Allis was president of Allis Hotel Co.
Allis became familiar with the hotel business after creating a successful trade magazine that covered the business practices of the hotel and restaurant industry. Possessing only a fourth-grade education, his popular Tavern Talk was among the first publications of its kind in the United States. The hotel baron’s career began in the early 1920s when he acquired the Daniel Boone Tavern in Columbia and Joplin’s Connor Hotel. His hotel resume continued to expand when he took over the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City.
Experienced Kansas City architect Alonzo Gentry designed the $800,000 Connor addition. Capt. C. A. Dieter was the contractor. Dieter was already a legendary contractor who built some of Joplin’s most prominent masterpieces, including St. Peter’s Catholic Church, the Carnegie Library, the United Hebrew Temple, the Elks Club and Joplin High School.
The annex opened with great pomp and circumstance Feb. 3, 1929. A Joplin Globe advertisement boasted that at the time the Connor Hotel was the largest hotel for a city with a population of 40,000 in the world, except for resort centers. With the annex, the entire hotel ran the length of the block of Fourth Street from Main Street to Joplin Avenue.
Aliss ran a full-page advertisement and stated his convictions in the Globe: “The growth of any city is almost directly dependent on its hotel accommodations. It has been the ambition of the present ownership and management to supply the people of Joplin and this large district with all the late, modern conveniences, and features found in hotels in cities of three or four times the size of Joplin.”
All the rooms had “circulating ice water,” a telephone and a connection for a ceiling fan. The 400-room hotel provided five different room rates. The least-expensive $2 room offered a toilet and lavatory but no bath. The $2.50 and $3 rooms had tiled bathrooms, while the corner rooms remained the largest and most expensive, running $3.50 to $4 a night.
The Connor offered both a barber shop and a beauty shop.
The hotel had five restaurants, all under the capable hands of chef August Petit. Even Connor Hotel owner Allis dabbled in the design of one of the eateries. The Kit Cat coffee shop featured his novel “contabs,” which were part counter and part table.
Eight different types of marble were used in the construction. Decorative Joplin marble was used in the facade of the first floor. Located on Shoal Creek, the Joplin Marble Quarries Co. was doing considerable business outside the region. A fair amount of their marble was on display in New York City. Their products could be found in the 32-story New York Athletic Club, the 28-story Bank of New York Office Building, the 38-story Brown Brothers Office Building, the 42-story New Amsterdam Casualty Co. Building and the 56-story Fuller Building.
Another distinguishing feature of the renovation was the huge chandelier over the grand staircase. Weighing 1,200 pounds, the total ensemble glistened of crystals and imported gold glass panels supported by a base made of cast bronze.
Located on the second floor was the Napoleonic-inspired Empire Room. The large rectangular room was lit by six chandeliers imported from Europe. Hungarian artist To Jandl was the interior decorator for the popular ballroom. In addition, the rooftop garden received a face-lift, too. The name was also changed to the Bal Moderne.
The Connor employed more than 300 people and offered a state-of-the-art public address system, which played radio programs from all over the Midwest. The entire hotel was a symbol of the late 1920s. Everything looked great from the penthouse of the ninth floor in February 1929.
Joplin was a bustling community. Zinc mines were producing at record levels. Three years before, according to G. K. Renner in his book, “Joplin From Mining Town to Urban Center,” the Tri-State Mining District produced 840,870 tons of zinc ore and 130,266 tons of lead. Production was staggering as nearly 12,000 miners were employed while 4,000 railway cars loaded with ore left the region every week. There seemed to be no end to prosperity until the stock market crashed that October.
The Connor would survive the Great Depression and several wars. However, it struggled through urban renewal efforts, and attempts to save this grand landmark failed. By the 1970s, this storied edifice, which had become so much a part of Joplin’s past, was to be razed.
On Nov. 12, 1978, one day before the scheduled demolition, the original 1907 structure unexpectedly fell, trapping three workmen. Immediately following this tragedy, a frantic rescue effort commenced. Unfortunately, Thomas Oakes and Frederick Coe never made it out of the debris alive. But amazingly, Alfred Summers survived after being trapped for 82 hours.
Brad Bealk is the director of the Joplin Museum Complex.
