News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Streetcar Grille Plans ‘Cheers’ Vibe at 16th and Main
(Editor’s note: this story originally appeared August 20, 2019, it’s part of an occasional reminder of businesses that have opened along the streetcar line. (Streetcar Grille recently posted this press release: “Streetcar Grille & Tavern added eight new dishes and six new cocktails to its menu as it welcomes guests back in the doors this…
New Playground Coming to West Terrace Park
By Kevin Collison West Terrace Park is getting a new $260,000 playground that will include the first “Bamboo Jungle” climbing posts installed in the city by KC Parks. Work is expected to begin this week on the new playground that serves not just the Quality Hill downtown neighborhood, but kids on recess at the nearby…
New AT&T Building Owner Plans $63M Overhaul to Premium Office Space
By Kevin Collison The new owner of the former AT&T building at 500 E. Eighth St. is proposing to completely overhaul the 1973 office tower and reopen it as premium office space at an estimated cost of $63 million. Gene Rerat told the board of the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority it will cost $43 million…
The Flavor of Art
Learn how a chef and an artist collaborated for a new dinner series at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. First up, Virginia Jaramillo.
Beloved City Market Flutist Marvin Hollinshed ‘Played Right Up Until the End’
He was the Saturday soundtrack for visitors to the City Market for many years. On hot mornings, Marvin Hollinshed was often the first person you’d encounter entering the Market from the west, staying cool in the shady passageway to the vendors’ stalls before he ventured outside. But you heard his flute sweetly piping tunes long…
Ghost (Signs) of KC’s Past
Ever see those faint old words painted on Kansas City buildings? Flatland’s curiousKC has the story on why and who put them up.
816 Day Celebration Returns to Downtown Friday
The city’s newest civic celebration, 816 Day, will focus on downtown again this Friday with the City Market and the Power & Light District as anchor locations. The event got the official seal of approval at City Hall last year when the Council passed a resolution endorsing it, and was originally launched by the Downtown…
A Chicana in the Midwest
Accessibility to youth arts programs is important to Deanna Muñoz, who considers herself “200% Chicana.” “Queer Eye” helped make her dream come true.
Grad School Diner Opens for Class in Crossroads
By Kevin Collison The Grad School, a restaurant specializing in a take on classic diner food called “New School Americana,” has opened at 18th and Broadway. The new place also offers an array of canned regional and local beers plus basic liquor offerings. It’s the first expansion beyond Springfield, where the original Grad School is…
Quality Hill Glowing Again Thanks to Public-Private Partnership
By Kevin Collison The Quality Hill neighborhood finally has its old-fashioned street lamps in action again thanks to a partnership between the city and a private fundraising effort led by the Downtown Council. The leafy neighborhood of brick homes and apartments on the west side of downtown had been increasingly in the dark as is…