Wornall Road Bridge over Brush Creek

Apartments along Ward Parkway showing Brush Creek on the Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, Mo. is the legend on the reverse side of this Kodachrome postcard (photography by Gene Hook). Tom Pendergast's cement creek bed is seen in the foreground. City engineers said the old Wornall Road bridge spanning the creek was too bulky and that it hampered water flow during the 1977 flood, when 25 deaths and damage totaling more that $100 million were blamed on the September flood. The bridge was closed for nearly 10 months in 1981 while a new structure was built. The replacement was financed by the J.C. Nichols Company. A Kansas City architectural firm, Howard-Needles-Tammen & Bergendoff received a national design award for its work on the Wornall Road bridge. Today's bridge features pedestrian walkways, wrought iron decorations and flower boxes. It was expanded from five to six lanes, including two twin turn lanes. Apartments pictured in the background were among the first to be erected overlooking the Plaza business district. From right to left are the Villa Serena (now the Hotel Raphael); the Locarno; the Riveria (now the Hemingway Plaza East condominiums); the Biarritz, and the Casa Loma. All were built in the mid to late 1920s. The Kansas City Times, November 16, 1984.