Kansas City wasn’t even called “Kansas City” when this 1888 beauty went up. Now, 31st + Main’s red-brick Victorian sentinel, the Jeserich Building, and its three neighbors have landed on the city’s Dangerous Buildings list after sitting vacant for years.

The property’s new owners (who bought it in 2024) have done little beyond asking to cut the water line — often an early sign of demolition, The Kansas City Star notes.

The Jeserich Building, also known as the Tower Building, circa 1989. | Photo via Missouri Valley Special Collections, KCPL

That’s despite the structure’s spot on the KC Register of Historic Places, which is supposed to give the Historic Preservation Commission a say over exterior changes to protected sites. (If you’ve followed West 39th’s leaning Loretto Academy tower story, you’ve seen this in action.)

Want to keep other historic spots standing? See if you’re eligible to nominate a building, district, or landmark for local historic status online.

For the architecture nerds among us:

1940 Tax Assessment Photos — one of the city’s largest trove of parcel images
KC Parcel Viewer — check ownership, project permits, and code violations