Sqaska

Built in 1890, the New York Life Building was the first highrise building in Kansas City, Missouri and the first to have elevators. It was one of six buildings built by New York Life Insurance across the United States.
The Italianate Renaissance Revival style building features brick and brownstone exterior and an H-shaped footprint with 10-story high wings on either side of a 12-story tower. A monumental eagle tending eaglets in a nest is perched above the main entry. The work was sculpted by Louis St. Gaudens and contains more than two tons of cast bronze. The lobby has an Italian granite atrium floor.
The imposing structure marked a dramatic change in the Kansas City skyline where the tallest buildings previously had been three and four stories.
The building's location on Quality Hill marked the first significant movement of the city south from its founding at River Market along the Missouri River.
The New York Life Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 1970.However, the building was abandoned in 1988.
In 1996, Utilcorp United conducted a $35 million restoration of the building adding state-of-the-art energy, communications, and environmental features. Financing assistance came from the Kansas City Tax Increment Finance Commission, the Missouri Department of National Resources, and the National Park Service.