The twin towers of American Century Financial, theinstitutionstarted by Jim Stowers, are two other impressive buildingsthat hehas developed near the Plaza.The Stowers Institute sits on a10-acre site that formerly was the homeof Menorah Hospital. Ratherthan raze the hospital, Stowers hired RickFortner, projectsuperintendent for J.E. Dunn Construction the generalcontractor, towork with the existing framework.

"We researched this quite extensively and we proved to Mr.Stowersthat it would be cheaper to take it to the ground and comeback,"Fortner says. "But he made the decision that, for historicalreasonsand for Kansas City, he was going to leave part of MenorahHospital forsentimental reasons."

The Stowers Institute, 1000 E. 50th St., will have 530,000sfdedicated for research facilities, 90,000 sf forscientificsupport space, 70,000 sf for administrative offices and a600space parking garage. Construction began in July 1998 and willbecompleted over ten years. More than 600 construction workers anda total of2,500 people have been employed on the project.