Civic Affairs
No Joke, Car Punches Laugh-O-Gram Building
By Kevin Collison The driver of a black Dodge Charger crashed the renovation party underway at the historic Laugh-O-Gram building near 31st and Troost over the weekend, leaving a hole in the structure and the project budget. “The last thing we expected was someone running into the building, we’d been making good progress,” said Gary…
Photographer Wants to Brighten Downtown with Neon Museum
By Kevin Collison Well known Kansas City photographer, Nick Vedros, is on a quest to create a downtown museum for one of advertising’s more colorful tools, the vintage neon signs that once touted businesses. “In 2017, I noticed many neon signs were in decline,” Vedros said. “There’s nothing more a part of our urban fabric…
Seiden’s Furs Envisioned as Artist Studios–If Price is Right
By Kevin Collison Artist Peregrine Honig envisions a new future for the crumbling, historic building that once housed Seiden’s Furs at 10th and Broadway, but she needs the owner to sell it for a reasonable price first. Honig, one of the city’s better known and nationally-exhibited artists, first fell for the brick building completed around…
Katz Lives Again, Revised Incentive Plan Includes $600K Cash Subsidy
(Updated July 15: The City Council voted 9-4 to approve the revised Katz redevelopment plan. “We are thrilled to be able to develop the site and excited to preserve the building,” developer Vic Alston, owner of Lux Living, said in response to the Council action. “There are a lot of great things happening in KC…
One of Downtown’s Older Buildings Declared Dangerous
By Kevin Collison A vacant downtown building at 10th and Broadway that was around before Custer’s Last Stand has experienced a partial roof collapse, prompting fears the historic structure will wind up being razed. “This is a pretty classic demolition by neglect story,” said Josh Boehm, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. “The property owner…