Hotel at Old Town -

onstruction of the Keen Kutter warehouse began in 1905 and was completed in the spring of 1906. The four-story, all-brick building encompasses 80,000 square feet of space and cost $250,000 to build. Nine shipping bays received goods from all over the world. The project was designed by the firm of Mauran, Russell and Garden, considered the best in their profession.
The tower, or cupola, on the warehouse roof held 20,000 gallons of water; the heart of a state-of-the-art fire extinguishing system. The building itself was constructed to be fire-resistant. Its floors were water-tight, and its walls corbled at each level to retard air currents. Cracks and seams were sealed with oakum and pitch to render them air-tight. The massive wooden beams which formed the building's frame were built into the brick walls. In case of fire, this design would prevent a burning or collapsing beam from pulling the surrounding wall down with it.
The Keen Kutter warehouse was said to be the strongest building in Wichita and the largest warehouse in the world in 1906. Its design is identical to that of the Cupples Building in St. Louis.