News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Why Tivoli Cinemas Was A Filmmakers’ Movie House
Tivoli Cinemas understood the value of anticipation. Movies don’t start when the opening credits roll. Movies start with the trailer, a tease of what’s to come. And for thousands of Kansas Citians, the Tivoli starts at the bottom of that steep staircase. It starts with a conversation about what’s playing, one hand on the long…
Tivoli Cinemas Ends 36-Year Run in Westport
By Kevin Collison Tivoli Cinemas, a destination for regional fans of foreign and independent films since 1983, is closing its doors in Westport this Friday. “The people of Kansas City have been generous beyond anything I could have imagined,” owner Jerry Harrington said in a statement sent to email subscribers and posted on it Facebook…
Kemper Arena, Traders Among Projects Honored by Historic KC
By Kevin Collison The redevelopment of two mid-20th Century buildings in greater downtown you wouldn’t automatically consider historic plus more traditional landmarks such as the old Savoy Hotel were honored recently by Historic Kansas City, the city’s premier preservation organization. The $65 million renovation of the Traders on Grand, a 1962 office building, into the…
The Story Behind Kansas City’s Oldest Church
What’s Kansas City’s oldest church? curiousKC investigates.
Super-Green Apartments ‘Leaping Out of Ground’ in River Market
By Kevin Collison Work has resumed on the 276-unit Second and Delaware apartment development after a lengthy shutdown, its energy-efficient, concrete walls rapidly rising beneath a tower crane visible throughout the River Market. Construction on the $71 million project resumed in November following an 16-month shutdown caused by a contractor dispute. Now, Crossland Construction has…
River Market Lands New Office Tenant
WSP USA, an international engineering firm, has opened a 42-person office in the River Market, encouraging news at a time when downtown officials are striving to attract more private employers. The firm has leased space in the 3Y building at 300 Wyandotte, bringing it close to 90 percent occupancy. The former Populous building opened in…
Announcing curiousKC Kids and the Winning Question
Learn which question won in Flatland’s first curiousKC Kids voting round.
Union Station Adding Soaring Sculpture to Downtown Skyline
Editor’s Update: Union Station announced over the weekend the “Reflecting Motion” sculpture experienced significant damage during a freak thunderstorm with high winds last Wednesday and is being removed as of today (July 15). The dramatic floating sculpture had been scheduled to be displayed through Labor Day Weekend. Since its opening May 18, it had attracted…
Neighborhood Cleanup Removes Tons of Trash From Kansas City’s East Side
Just imagine what $1.5 billion would do for blight on Kansas City’s East Side. Well, if Bill Drummond had his way, the city would make sprucing up neighborhoods as big a financial priority as the billion-dollar-plus project to replace Kansas City International Airport. Drummond, a volunteer from the Manheim Park, an urban core neighborhood, spoke…
Restoring Residential Density by Embracing the ‘City’ in Kansas City
GUEST COMMENTARY By Kevin Klinkenberg An expert is someone that lives more than 30 miles away, so it’s said. Since I’ve spent about nine years living much more than 30 miles away from Kansas City, I suppose that’s made me a bona fide expert. In my last piece, I wrote about the excitement and positive…