Bannister Federal Complex The Bannister Federal Complex is a United States federal government complex located at 1500 E . Bannister Road in Kansas City , Missouri . The complex consists of 10 buildings located at the corner of Troost Avenue and Bannister Road . The complex is occupied primarily by the General Services Administration and the Department of Energy . It is currently slated for closure by 2014 . The largest component , the Kansas City Plant , produces and assembles 85 % of the non - nuclear components of the United States nuclear bomb arsenal . The GSA has announced plans to relocate the Kansas City Plant to land adjacent to the former Richards - Gebaur Air Force Base beginning in 2011 . Site history . Kansas City Speedway . The site of the current Bannister Federal Complex was originally home to the Kansas City Speedway , not to be confused with the modern Kansas Speedway . Jack Prince and Art Pillsbury ( who also built a several such tracks including the Beverly Hills Speedway ) built the track in 1922 at a cost of $ 500 , 000 . The 1 . 25 mile wood oval track had high banked turns , two grandstands , and parking for 20 , 000 automobiles , including 5 , 000 in the infield . The racetrack itself was located near what is now 95th and Troost , and the main entrance was located at 94th and Holmes Rd . The first race was scheduled for September 16 , 1922 , but rain delayed the race until the following day . More than 50 , 000 people attended the first of only four auto races that would ever be held at the Kansas City Speedway , which also hosted motorcycle racing . Notable attendees at the first race included the Mayor of Kansas City , Missouri Governor Arthur Hyde , and great race car drivers , including Ray Harroun and Barney Oldfield . Seventeen drivers participated in the first race , including Tommy Milton , Leon Duray , Tony Gulotta , and Cliff Durant . The race was won by Tommy Milton , who was also the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 twice . The first race also saw the only fatality at the track when the race claimed the life of 27 - year - old Roscoe Sarles who collided with Pete Depaola on the 110th lap . The average speed for the first race was 107 mph , which was significantly faster than Indianapolis 500 races of that time . In fact , the average speed at Indianapolis did not exceed 100 mph until 1925 . In 1924 , the last race , a 250 - mile event , was stopped after about 150 miles because large holes had appeared in the wood track . The nearby Blue River caused the untreated lumber used in constructing the track to warp . Jimmy Murphy won the fourth and final auto race on July 4 , 1924 . The speedway was sold on March 24 , 1925 , for only $ 97 , 500 . World War II . On July 4 , 1942 , following the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor , then - Senator ( later President ) Harry S . Truman broke ground on the site for construction of a large facility that became home to Pratt and Whitney . The famous Double Wasp airplane engines were manufactured for the Navy at the facility through the duration of the war effort . Following the victory in Japan , the facility was closed and remained vacant until 1947 . A Department of Defense landfill was established in 1942 on a portion of the area , as a disposal site for the Bannister Federal Complex . From 1942 to 1964 , when the landfill was closed , several government contractors , including Pratt and Whitney and Westinghouse , disposed of waste in the landfill . Disposal activities at the landfill resulted in contamination to soil and groundwater by solvents , metals and petroleum contaminants . Post - war . In 1947 , the Internal Revenue Service moved facilities onto the site , and in 1949 the largest portion of the plant was leased to a division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation . The plant again began producing aircraft engines , this time jet engines for the McDonnell F2H Banshee naval fighter jet , and others to be used in the Korean War . At that time , the Fairfax Storage Company also began using part of the complex as a warehouse for tires , raw rubber , sugar , and lumber . Westinghouse also subleased part of the plant to Bendix beginning in 1949 , which later became Allied Signal . Bendix began operating the facility for the Atomic Energy Commission and building nonnuclear components for nuclear weapons . This portion of the complex became known as the Kansas City Plant . The Kansas City Plant occupied the greatest portion of the complex , and in 1958 Westinghouse moved out and Bendix expanded operations at the Kansas City Plant . Current usage . The Kansas City Plant portion of the Bannister Federal Complex , which is operated and managed by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies , LLC for the National Nuclear Security Administration ( NNSA ) , continues to provide high - tech production services to government agencies . As one of the most secure production facilities in the country , the plant produces nonnuclear mechanical , electronic and engineered material components for U . S . national defense systems , such as high - energy laser ignition systems , microwave hybrid microcircuit production , and miniature electromechanical devices . The plant also provides technical services such as metallurgical / mechanical analysis , analytical chemistry , environmental testing , nondestructive testing , computer - based training , simulations and analysis , and technical certification . The nonnuclear components produced at the Kansas City Plant comprise 85 percent of the parts manufactured within the nuclear weapons complex , as well as 85 percent of the components that constitute a nuclear weapon . The Kansas City Plant is the NNSA ’ s highest rated production facility As of fiscal year 2007 , the Kansas City Plant had 2 , 711 employees . Gross operating cost for KCP in FY07 was $ 501 million . The Internal Revenue Service once occupied in two buildings of the complex , but the IRS moved into a new facility near Union Station in October 2006 , taking about 2 , 500 jobs out of the Bannister complex . The National Archives and Records Administration , which occupied of space at the complex , began operating in a new location , also near Union Station on Memorial Day 2009 . The Defense Finance and Accounting Service has also been removed from the complex , leaving about vacant . The GSA still employs nearly 800 people in the western portion of the complex , which serves as the headquarters to the GSA ' s Heartland Region . Site future . In February 2012 , the GSA announced plans to remove all remaining federal employees from the site by 2014 . More than 1 , 000 employees will be relocated to an as yet undetermined location in downtown Kansas City . The move coincides with plans by the NNSA to also vacate the Bannister complex by 2014 . GSA officials are said to be seeking a buyer for redevelopment of the property , a task that may be complicated by multiple Superfund sites located on the property .