Search Results: origin story
New Power & Light District Mural a Sky-High Tribute to Kansas City’s African-American Cultural and Sports Heritage
By Kevin Collison Alexander Austin has worked on some big canvasses as one of the city’s preeminent street muralists, but the new assignment he’s executing in the Power & Light District is taking him to an even higher level. As in working up to 80 feet above street level painting a mural over a half-football…
Crossroads Academy Wants to Open Permanent High School in Historic Attucks School in 18th & Vine Jazz District
By Kevin Collison The Crossroads Academy hopefully has found a new permanent home for its downtown high school, the long-vacant, historic Attucks School in the 18th & Vine Jazz District. The charter school has submitted a bid to the city to buy the old building at 1815 Woodland Ave. If accepted, it could ultimately house…
Vietnam War Refugees Succeed — and Struggle — in Kansas City
When American troops made a chaotic, embarrassed withdrawal from Vietnam in April 1975, the flood of terrified Vietnamese refugees to Kansas City began. Ty Bui, who had spent seven years in the Vietnamese military, escaped his country in August that year and, after staying in a refugee camp in Arkansas, came to Kansas City in…
Sympathetic Vibrations | From the Shadows to the Main Stage
Over the last decade, dance music has enjoyed a metamorphosis of culture and scale that is perhaps the fastest and most drastic of any genre across music history’s zeitgeist. And this weekend in La Benite Riverfront Park, Kansas City’s Dancefestopia will bring together more than 100 acts to provide a LED-fueled example of just how…
New Development Site in River Market Considered Potential Location for Mid-Rise Apartment Project
By Kevin Collison A massive industrial plant at First and Grand that opened in 1904 to supply electricity to the old Kansas City streetcar system may wind up capitalizing on the popularity of its revival. Veolia energy, the French firm that began operating the five-story behemoth in 2008, has begun marketing a nearby four-acre site…
Ethnic Enrichment Festival & Other Weekend Possibilities
Eat your way around the world at the Ethnic Enrichment Festival, today through Sunday. Whether you’re craving crepes or sticky rice, there’s a host of food booths that’ll make you feel like Epcot Center got transplanted to Swope Park for a weekend. There’s a host of live acts, including traditional dancing and music performances. The EEF…
Tomato Tasting, BLT Challenge & Other Weekend Possibilities
Give summer a proper sendoff with a pair of tomato-focused events. The ninth annual tomato tasting is at Local Pig (2618 Guinotte Ave) from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Think of it as a tomato potluck — bring a tomato dish or ripe tomatoes from your garden — and then dive into the bounty of fruit. Later…
Tap List | 31 Heroes & The I-70 Beeries
Torn Label Brewing Company (1708 Campbell St.) will once again release 31 Heroes Wheat IPA, a beer originally created in honor of troops that died in a military tragedy. “In August 2011, a helicopter carrying a group of military service members – many of them Navy SEALs – was downed in Afghanistan,” said Rafi Chaudry,…
Sale of The Kansas City Star Press Pavilion for Fraction of 2006 Cost Reflects Declining Newspaper Industry
By Kevin Collison When it opened in 2006, The Kansas City Star Press Pavilion was hailed as a major contribution to the revitalization of downtown and the latest technology in the newspaper industry. The striking 434,000 square-foot building clad in green glass and copper covered two city blocks, rising from four stories along 17th Street…
Historic Kansas City Star Building Sold, to be Redeveloped as Office Project for 1,200 Workers
By Kevin Collison The Kansas City Star’s historic headquarters building at 1729 Grand Blvd. has been sold to a local developer who wants to redevelop the property as a first-class office project for up to 1,200 workers. On Friday, The Star’s parent company, Sacramento-based McClatchy, announced it had sold the historic property and the 11-year-old…