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…
Boys Grow Fall Farm Festival & Other Weekend Possibilities
The Boys Grow Fall Farm Festival is this Sunday with special guest chef Lidia Bastianich. It’s noon to 4 p.m. with a beer garden, petting zoo, and bounce house on the 10-acre farm that helps urban youth learn about agriculture and entrepreneurship. Novel, Shatto Milk, Local Pig and KC Canning Co. will be among the restaurants…
Former KC Chiefs Cheerleaders Opening Crossroads Dance and Fitness Boutique for Adults Next Month
By Kevin Collison Two former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders are opening a dance and fitness studio in the Crossroads Arts District next month designed to appeal to an adult clientele. “For a long period of time, Lauren and I have been in the health care technology industry,” said Kerri Pomerenke, co-founder with Lauren Boyd of…
KC Soda Co. Pops Bottles at The City Market
“What is this place?” asks a young woman as she walks through the door of the KC Soda Co. in the City Market (20 E. Fifth St.). She’s right to wonder, as 700 bottles — free from the confines of a vending machine — are stacked on metro shelves that line a space roughly the size of…
Where Does Our Recycling Go?
Ted Baker has been recycling ever since Overland Park started its curbside program in 1990. But every Wednesday, as he dutifully treks to the end of his driveway, he ponders the question that he ultimately submitted to curiousKC: What happens to the stuff we pay to have recycled? “I’ve heard reports that they stick the…
Art in the Loop Caps Season Today with Downtown Kansas City Art Crawl
Art in the Loop, a diverse assortment of public artworks in downtown Kansas City, is winding down the season with a special Downtown KC Art Crawl today. Actually, it’s more a streetcar art crawl because the works will be toured and discussed along the streetcar route. It begins at the Kansas City Artists Coalition office at…
Artconomy | Preview
In Kansas City, we’re told the economic impact of the arts totals a quarter of a billion dollars. Follow across four short films as Artconomy evaluates how we, the public, contribute to that arts engine both as willing participants and taxpayers. Through interviews with art community leaders and artists themselves, we look at the numbers…
Switching The Script
Nearly two decades ago, Atlanta aimed to revitalize its crime-plagued “Little Vietnam” neighborhood, and an innovative charter known as the Drew School was a key part of the project. Today, Drew is ranked as one of Scholastic’s 25 Coolest Schools in America. And Little Vietnam is held up as an example of a successful…
Second Phase of Corrigan Station Development in Crossroads Expected to Break Ground Late This Year
By Kevin Collison The developers of Corrigan Station plan to break ground by December on an $11 million office building at 19th and Main streets along the streetcar route. Jon Copaken of Copaken Brooks, co-developer of Corrigan Station, said final plans for the 25,000 square-foot, three-story building have been submitted to the city. It would…
Tap List | Rock & Run Primed for Growth
After more than a year of upheaval, Gene DeClue and Dan Hatcher, the two operational owners of Rock & Run Brewery and Pub (110 E. Kansas St., Liberty, Missouri), believe they’re turning a corner. They released their first canned beer, installed a new brewhouse system in their original location, and took steps to secure space in…
Historic Kansas City Streetcar Moved to its Permanent Stop as Future River Market Ice Cream Parlor
By Kevin Collison (Updated Sept. 11) After running routes from Kansas City to San Francisco with a long layover at Union Station, the old Country Club streetcar has found a new home in the River Market where it’s expected to become an ice cream parlor. On Monday morning, the 46-foot streetcar was at its new…
Techweek Kansas City Begins Today, an Annual Celebration of What’s Next
Techweek Kansas City is expected to draw more than 6,500 people downtown this week to expand their minds, show off their entrepreneurial chops and perhaps win one of nine major grants from the LaunchKC program. The annual event, one of several held around the country, brings together industry leaders and creative minds in a series…
Vietnam War Refugees Succeed — and Struggle — in Kansas City
When American troops made a chaotic, embarrassed withdrawal from Vietnam in April 1975, the flood of terrified Vietnamese refugees to Kansas City began. Ty Bui, who had spent seven years in the Vietnamese military, escaped his country in August that year and, after staying in a refugee camp in Arkansas, came to Kansas City in…
Booming Spring Venture Group Plans to Add Over 650 Jobs in Downtown Kansas City and Gobble New Office Space
By Kevin Collison Spring Venture Group, a fast-growing senior health insurance brokerage firm, is moving its downtown headquarters this winter from Crown Center to 12 Wyandotte Plaza and expects to occupy almost half of the 18-story building by the end of 2019 At a time when downtown leaders are focused on attracting more private jobs,…
Pair of Downtown Festivals Saturday Promises a Great Day of Beer and Music
By Kevin Collison A pair of fun annual events are overlapping Saturday in downtown Kansas City, promising a day of great live music and a huge selection of craft beers. Beginning at 3 p.m., the Ninth Annual KC Beer Fest will take over Grand Boulevard from 13th to 14th streets and the adjoining Power &…