Ingram's May 2024

1976 p Republican National Convention is held at Kemper Arena, with incumbent Gerald Ford crowned the party’s nominee for the November presidential election.

1981 p Only a year after the Hyatt Regency Hotel opened in the Crown Center complex, a walkway collapse onto the crowded lobby floor nd kills 114. 1985 General Motors opens the new $750 million Fairfax Plant. The Royals win the World Series, defeating the St. Louis Car- dinals in seven games. The series was actually seized in game 6. 1986 Three major Downtown projects are completed for nearly $300 million in construction: One Kansas City Place, the Commerce Bank Building and the AT&T Town Pavilion. 1987 The Kroh Brothers real estate development empire crumbles with the biggest bankruptcy filing in Kansas City history. 1988 American Italian Pasta is founded; a riches-to-rags story that ended with company barely avoiding bankruptcy in early 2000s and its CEO in prison. It was later reorganized and sold to Ralcorp of St. Louis for $1.2 billion. 1989 PCI Acquisition Corp. acquires Payless Cashways for $909 million. Dow Chemical agrees to buy 67 percent of Marion labs in a deal with estimated value of $5.5 billion, creating Marion Merrell Dow, which later became Hoescht Marion Roussel (German) and, still later, part of the Sanofi conglomerate (France). 1991 u The Kansas City Stockyards permanently closes. 1992 The founding of global humanitarian-aid organization Heart to Heart International, now the region’s biggest non-profit. Garmin is founded by Gary Burrell and Min Kao.

1977 The 30-story City Center Square (now Lightwell Building) is the first major change to the Downtown skyline in decades. p Flash (lets face it—horrendous) flooding on the Country Club Plaza claims seven lives and inflicts $100 million in property damage. Another deadly deluge would hit the area in 1998. 1978 Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, now the region’s biggest, is formed. 1979 Cerner Corp. is founded, originally as PGI & Associates. 1980 Kansas City Royals win their first American League pennant, but lose to Philadelphia in a six-game of the World Series.

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May 2024

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