Civic Affairs
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…
Downtown Council Drops Homeless Camp Idea, Welcomes Donations to Community Center
By Kevin Collison The Downtown Council’s efforts to help the homeless population got some good news this Thanksgiving week, tempering the collapse of its proposal to establish a temporary camp for emergency shelter this winter. A fundraiser led by engineering firm Burns & McDonnell raised $105,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to build a new…
Affordable Apartment Proposal Would Bring More Bark to Berkley
By Kevin Collison The organization behind The Grooming Project, a non-profit that provides career training in dog grooming for impoverished single parents, wants to open another school on the riverfront as part of an affordable apartment project. EPEC, which stands for Empowering the Parent to Empower Children, is applying for state low income housing tax…