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
Denver Investor has Discovered his Development ‘Play’ in River Market
By Kevin Collison Craig Slawson knows a lot about oil exploration, a business his family has been in for 60 years. In that industry, when you find a ‘play,’ you’ve identified a geological region where conditions are ripe for discovering oil fields, lots of them. Now that he’s expanded into real estate, the Denver-based founder…
Crossroads Crooks with Appetite for Apple Computers Nabbed by Kansas City Police
By Kevin Collison Kansas City police have arrested two men in connection with a series of smash-and-grab business burglaries in the Crossroads Arts District in recent months that mostly targeted Apple computers. Det. Tim Mountz said Tuesday the men were arrested Monday in connection with at least five of the more than dozen burglaries in…
Crossroads Arts District Celebrating the Eclipse with Solanoir Street-Art Festival
The Crossroads Arts District is living up to cosmic form with a five-day, street-art celebration of the upcoming total eclipse called Solanoir. Thirty street artists from around the country and the world have been invited to paint murals on two dozen buildings around the downtown district. The festival begins Wednesday and its celestial culmination occurs…
Downtown Treat: Free Scoop of Ice Cream to Serve a Good Cause
Here’s a sweet downtown challenge. Denali Flavors will donate $10,000 to the Salvation Army of Kansas City if it can attract enough ice cream lovers to the Power & Light District to eat 10,000 free scoops of its Hiland Moose Tracks Ice Cream between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday). All you have to…
Plan to Tame Crossroads Stretch of Oak Street with Diagonal Parking Delayed Until Spring
By Kevin Collison Oak Street through the Crossroads District of downtown sometimes can be a speedway, the worse incident perhaps occurring in late 2014 when a car plowed into a building at the corner of 18th Street during a police chase. The East Crossroads area it serves also has attracted a host of new bars,…
Crossroads First Friday to Include Kids Scavenger Hunt, Rooftop Party, Sporting KC Flip Cup and Yes, Art
By Kevin Collison Today’s First Friday in the downtown Kansas City Crossroads Arts District continues a growing trend of not just being a festive place for adults to congregate but families as well. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., “C is for Crossroads,” an event promoting literacy for younger kids, will kickoff this month’s First…
Gordon Biersch Pulls Plug on Downtown Power & Light Location
One of the downtown Power & Light District’s original tenants, Gordon Biersch brewery and restaurant, is closing after anchoring a strategic corner at 14th and Walnut since 2008. In a release, company officials described the departure as a “natural end at this location. “We have enjoyed being a part of the renaissance of downtown Kansas…
Kemper Arena Developer Receives State Historic Tax Credits, Last Hurdle Before Beginning Mosaic Arena Project
By Kevin Collison The $39 million redevelopment of the former Kemper Arena into an amateur sports and fitness complex that’s expected to draw a half million out-of-town visitors yearly to the West Bottoms has cleared its last financial hurdle. Developer Steve Foutch of Foutch Brothers LLC expects to begin work within two weeks on his…
City Teaming with KCP&L to Provide Free On-Street Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Downtown
Three new on-street charging stations for electric vehicles are coming online in downtown, an expansion of a program sponsored by Kansas City Power & Light. The first station is operational at the East 9 at Pickwick Plaza apartment development at 933 McGee St. and the other two in the Crossroads District at Broadway and Southwest…
Omaha Postcard
By Kevin Collison Port KC rolled out its sketchy concept for the Berkley Riverfront a few weeks ago, but if anyone wants to see a farsighted vision realized, they should drive three hours up I-29 to Omaha. First off, Kansas City and Omaha share a very similar relationship with the Missouri River. Both towns started…