Civic Affairs
Sprint Center Celebrates 10 Years as Downtown Anchor, Result of Bold Mayoral Push with Lessons for KCI Campaign
By Kevin Collison It was a huge gamble when it was first proposed, but 10 years later, the Sprint Center has yielded an equally huge payoff for downtown, drawing 11 million visitors and generating an estimated half-billion dollars in economic benefits to the city. Last week, Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, the operator of the…
City Takes Another Swing at Eventually Wooing Royals Downtown
By Kevin Collison Downtown baseball is back in the game with the city joining the Downtown Council and developer Jon Copaken in funding a $120,000 study intended to lay the groundwork for a full pitch to the Royals down the road. The Kansas City Star reported this week the ongoing study has identified four sites…
Grand Boulevard Finally Gets New Stripes, but Bicyclists Believe Much More Needed
By Kevin Collison Several years after it was proposed, Grand Boulevard is finally going on a “road diet” promised to bicyclists who now hope it’s the beginning of realizing the much more ambitious “Making Grand Grand” plan. City Public Works crews have been painting new lanes on Grand in recent days that are reducing traffic…
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…
Former St. Louis Mayor Tells Downtown Council New Coalition Forming to Defend Historic Tax Credit Program
By Kevin Collison Threats to the Missouri Historic Tax Credit program are prompting preservationists to forge a coalition between cities and towns to lobby legislators about its benefits, a former St. Louis mayor told the Downtown Council last week. Vincent Schoemehl, who served as mayor in St. Louis from 1981-1993, said proposed cuts to the…