Arkansas City Office Building

112-114-116 West Fifth Avenue

Known throughout its history as the Arkansas City Office Building, Fifth Avenue Office Building or simply A.C. Office Building, this key building stands out as a very modern-looking structure juxtaposed against other, more classical architecture in the Downtown Historic District.

In November 1928, the H.W. Underhill Construction company was awarded a $198,600 contract to construct a five-story, Art Deco-style office building at 112-114-116 W. Fifth Ave., near the heart of downtown Arkansas City. It was planned to be open by June 1929, but weather-related issues delayed its completion until November 1929.

Early tenants included A.C. Savings & Investment Co., Ark City Drug Store, A.W. Ralston Investment Co., Santa Fe Building & Loan, The Janet Beeson Beauty Shop, Oscar Renn, J.A. Plumbley, George Templar, Drs. Day and Spalling, Dr. H.C. Gilliand, L.E. Brenz, H.J. Edwards, Ora Elwell, I.W. Bear, V.L. Overstreet, W.H. Rea, C.L. Zugg, H.M. Dummit, and Dr. M.M. and R.R. Miller.

Through the years, many doctors, dentists, insurance agents, loan companies, photo studios, real estate offices, architects and attorneys called this building home. It also housed the A.C. Coffee House, The Potter’s Wheel, The Cowley County Assessment Office, Kansas Gas & Electric, Kansas Power and Light, a business school, and many more.

The original group of investors went bankrupt in 1930 and the building was bought out by a Newton-based group of investors, before being sold for a second time later that same year. The building was purchased by Lou M. Bryant, owner of Bryant Hardware, in 1940. He passed away in 1965 while repairing a boiler in the Ark City Office Building.

In June 1982, new owner J.C. Bates set about renovating the building, including adding murals depicting Kansas history. But he sold it a year later to Union State Bank, located just to the east. The bank wanted to find a local owner to purchase the building and, in November 1988, Bob Reidlinger made that purchase. He was an insurance agent whose office was located in the building.

Reidlinger auctioned off the A.C. Office Building in June 2005 and the winners, Preston and Rebecca Hill, of Hampton, Virginia, purchased the building for $101,000. While the Hills initially stated their intentions to move to Ark City and renovate the structure, by 2007, the building was fully vacant.

The owners cited expenses as their reason for closing the building. It has remained shuttered for the last 14 years.

Local historian and former newspaper reporter Foss Farrar nominated the building to be placed on the Kansas Preservation Alliance’s list of Endangered Historic Places.

The bid was successful and the building’s inclusion was announced in June 2012.

What the future holds for what was once the commercial hub of downtown, no one knows. But it retains a proud place in the annals of Arkansas City.

The building is an Art Deco structure, featuring a mezzanine and tan brick front façade with stylized and geometric motifs.

It also has a stone cornice with a shaped parapet featuring checkerboard paneled and carved detailing. 

The building-top vertical projectives create a vertical emphasis.