Civic Affairs
Basketball Coaches Association May Leave, Helps Bring Tourneys Worth Millions
By Kevin Collison City and civic leaders are mounting a full-court press to keep the National Association of Basketball Coaches in Kansas City, a small organization with an outsized role bringing major tournaments worth millions of dollars to downtown. The NABC, which was founded in Kansas City, has been approached by Indianapolis, Dallas and other…
Riding the Rails Into 2021
By Kevin Collison What a difference a year makes. One year ago, anticipation was high that greater downtown was poised for a major influx of office development including the Strata and Platform Venture projects, and the new Waddell & Reed headquarters. The Loews Convention Hotel was only a few months from opening, new restaurants and…
Nearby Neighborhoods Big Part of ‘Imagine Downtown KC’
By Kevin Collison The Imagine Downtown KC project launched by the Downtown Council last summer is deep into reimagining a new relationship between downtown as most people know it and surrounding neighborhoods as far as Pendleton Heights and Beacon Hill. “This plan is changing our perception of downtown,” said Lynn Carlton, chairwoman of the Downtown…
Chaotic Downtown Stunt-Driving Part of Long, Reckless Season
By Kevin Collison A raucous stunt-driving session that closed one of downtown’s most visible intersections over the weekend is the latest outrage in what’s been a loud, chaotic year for residents in the urban core. The high-profile, donut-spinning incident Sunday night at 13th and Grand by the T-Mobile Center was part of a pattern in…
New Strategy Hopes to Reanimate Disney Laugh-O-Gram Building
By Kevin Collison Backers of the effort to reanimate the historic Laugh-O-Gram building where Walt Disney got his start a century ago believe they finally have a winning strategy to complete the languishing project. The new plan calls for the building near 31st and Troost to be renovated for multiple uses: a small theater and…