This is the old Gillham Theatre, which was owned by Tony DiPardo of Chiefs bandleader fame and was being renovated in 2001 into the "Monaco", a special events place. It burned down during renovation - you can find the empty lot just east of 31st and Gillham, to the north of El Torreon.
A link to an article about the fire...
This is part of the Warner Plaza complex that was located at the SE corner of Linwood and Main. The apartment complex and associated commercial buildings were demolished in the mid 90s, along with another 6 blocks of typical midtown housing and apartment buildings. Warner Plaza was known as a pretty terrible place, but it only accounted for approximately 1/6th of the land area demolished for the Home Depot and Costco that are there now. Even though Costco is a welcome addition to the neighborhood, it demonstrates land planning at its absolute worst and shows Kansas City's complete lack of interest in anything besides a quick, cheap, incongruous fix when it has the opportunity to do something right.
Here is a map indicating the buildings that were extant in 1991 and were subsequently removed for the pleasure of ample parking and large undeveloped swaths of green.
Warner Plaza only occupies the upper corner of the demo'd site, essentially what is west of Warwick Boulevard and north of 32nd Terrace... or McDonalds, for anyone familiar with the area.
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