Kevin Collison
Publisher
Flatland contributor Kevin Collison is the founder of CityScene KC, an online source for downtown news and issues.
Stories by Kevin Collison
Guy Fieri Driving Into KC Live! Next Year with New Restaurant
Guy Fieri, the flamboyant host of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” is rolling out a new “one-of-a-kind” restaurant at the Kansas City Live! block next year. “Let me just put it this way: If you like to party, and you like tacos, this is gonna be your kinda dive!,” Fieri said in a release from the…
Techweek Caps Annual Downtown Event by Awarding $500,000 in Grants
By Kevin Collison A Techweek packed with speakers, panel discussions and even a mayoral forum culminated Friday in a ceremony that rivaled the Golden Globes for giddy anticipation as $500,000 in grants were announced to promising startup firms. As families and friends gathered with entrepreneurs in booths at No Other Pub with a beer or…
West Bottoms Whiskeys Adds New Spirits to Historic Industrial District
By Kevin Collison The West Bottoms’ massive old industrial buildings are an inexpensive haven for hundreds of downtown creatives living their dream and Alex Lindsey plans to add whiskey to the mix soon. He’s working on opening his West Bottoms Whiskeys in what looks like a garage bay at 1321 W. 13th St. A century…
East Crossroads Rolls Out the Barrel for Big New Brewpub
By Kevin Collison The East Crossroads, already home to several microbreweries, is about to add another that promises to be the biggest in downtown outside the mother of all local brewers, Boulevard. City Barrel Brewing Co. expects to open at 1728 Holmes St. before the end of the year and co-owner James Stutsman says it…
Plexpod Opening Second Downtown Co-Working Space in River Market
Plexpod is opening a co-working space at 512 Delaware in the River Market large enough to accommodate 80 people, bringing office use to a section of the historic street where several bars and restaurants have opened recently. “We need bodies working too,” said Craig Slawson, the Denver developer who owns the building where Plexpod will…
New Hotel Indigo Lifts Lasting Toast to Pioneering Crossroads Artist
By Kevin Collison Jim Leedy, the renowned artist who pioneered the Crossroads Arts District in 1985, knows what he wants when someone decides to name a hotel bar after him. “If I have a bar named after me, I should get free drinks,” Leedy quipped at the festive grand opening last week of the Hotel…
Hy-Vee Arena Opens, Bringing New Bounce to Bottoms
By Kevin Collison The Hy-Vee Arena formally opened last week in the West Bottoms at a ceremony where developer Steve Foutch was saluted for his vision and perseverance in reviving what had become a costly white elephant for the city, the former Kemper Arena. “Six years ago, he approached us with the idea of a…
Parlor Food Hall Finds Recipe for Success in East Crossroads
By Kevin Collison Parlor, the new East Crossroads food hall, has crushed the expectations of its Atlanta-based developer its first couple of weeks of operation, quickly becoming the hip dining spot for thousands. “It blew our minds,” said Davis Engle of Meriwether Companies. “We exceeded our revenue projections in the first week by double. “We…
Better Block KC Tames Oak Street in Crossroads
By Kevin Collison A stretch of Oak Street in the Crossroads will be a lot chiller through Oct. 27 thanks to Better Block KC, a “tactical urbanism” design group. Last Sunday, about a dozen volunteers with the group transformed a two-block section of Oak between 17th and 19th streets from what sometimes can be a…
Power & Light District Adding Hotel Karaoke, Expanded No Other Pub
The Kansas City Power & Light District is adding a new karaoke concept to the second floor space in the KC Live! block formerly occupied by the Hotel Night Club. The new Hotel Karaoke is expected to open for private events this December and will have a grand opening in early 2019, according to a…