- City:
- Kansas City, MO
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities, Flood and Erosion Control
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Description
Pictured is some of the remaining original paving installed by the WPA along Brush Creek as a flood control project in 1935. The project has a controversial history due to its relation to political machine boss Tom Pendergast’s Concrete Company.
“Other buildings built with Pendergast concrete were the Municipal Auditorium and Police Headquarters. Paving Brush Creek began November 1935 at a cost originally estimated at $1,395,000 and employing at one time 1,647 WPA workers. Concrete was laid eight to 10 inches thick and 70 feet wide.” (www.kclibrary.org)
The rumor is that there are bodies under the concrete, though with further improvements, no bodies have been found.
Source notes
https://www.kclibrary.org/kchistory/what-companies-did-political-boss-tom-pendergast-own
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kclibrary/3877729771/
Site originally submitted by Charles Swaney on March 13, 2013.
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