News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Growing Beacon Hill Neighborhood Adding $16M Hotel to Mix
By Kevin Collison After a more than two-year effort, work on a new 92-room LaQuinta Del Sol hotel got its formal start Tuesday, the latest addition to the growing Beacon Hill neighborhood in the southeast corner of greater downtown. “We’re thrilled we finally got here,” developer John Hoffman said during a groundbreaking ceremony. “It took…
The Poop on Downtown Dog Owners
By Kim Mueller Combining dog poop and beer seemed like a great idea to Jena Newman who convinced a dozen volunteers to spend their Sunday morning picking up pet waste during downtown’s first “Poo to Brew” event earlier this month. “I’m not scared of any poop,” said Newman, a former Kansas City zookeeper, as she…
Charlotte Street Launches New Performance Space on Broadway
By Kevin Collison The Charlotte Street Foundation, a cutting-edge downtown cultural fixture for years, has found a permanent space for performance works on Broadway–at least as long as its spared from redevelopment. The venue, called Capsule, opened in early August in space at 1664 Broadway and will close out its first season Aug. 30 with…
Crossroads Prep Opens Downtown in Historic Thayer Building
By Kevin Collison Six years after launching Crossroads Academy in downtown with 190 elementary students, Dean Johnson and his colleagues welcomed another 190 students, this time at a new high school in the historic Thayer building. Johnson, executive director, said the charter school has grown to 800 students since opening in a former office building…
Ginger Rogers and The Kansas Governor’s Race
KCPT’s Nick Haines, executive director of public affairs and Week in Review host, picks out the big stories of the week ahead and the interesting stories you may have missed. Orman Remains on The Ballot Independent candidate for Kansas Governor,Greg Orman will stay on the November ballot after a state board rejected a challenge to his…
New Study: Downtown Prime Beneficiary of City Incentive Programs
By Kevin Collison A long-awaited report on how economic development tax incentives are used in Kansas City found the greater downtown area was the primary beneficiary during the 10 years covered by the study. The study presented last week to the Kansas City Council found the city was getting a good return on its investment…
Downtown Retail Survivor Bob Jones Shoes ‘Retiring’ After Almost 60 Years
By Kevin Collison The irony of Bob Jones Shoes making it through the tough times only to close now that downtown Kansas City is back on its feet isn’t lost on Rocky Horowitz. “We seen downtown go from bad to good to really good,” he said. “Once the Sprint Center opened and things got all…
Streetcar Authority Picks Outer Lanes of Main Street for Planned Extension
By Kevin Collison The Streetcar Authority plans to run the proposed extension from downtown to UMKC on the outside lanes of Main Street, saying it would provide a more pedestrian-friendly access and greater economic development opportunities. The decision to go outside rather than the alternative of an alignment down the middle of Main Street was…
Abandoned or Wrecked: The Numbers Behind the City’s Car Auction
John Baccala stood in a parking lot in the Northeast Industrial District of Kansas City, Missouri, and raised his voice over the auctioneer’s bid calling. “Every one of these cars has a story,” said Baccala, the communication/community liaison for the city’s Neighborhoods and Housing Services Department. Baccala has seen more than 5,200 cars pass through…
Our Daily Nada Opening in River Market, Joins Growing Cafe Scene
By Kevin Collison Our Daily Nada, the anticipated new River Market bookstore and cafe, expects to open this week, featuring the welcoming escape envisioned in its namesake short story by Ernest Hemingway. “We want it to be a comfortable place for people to relax and enjoy a drink,” said co-owner Andrea Baca. “There will be…