In The Loop: December 18, 2022
Your connection to Downtown Kansas City
Happy holidays — here are some streetcar updates
The KC Streetcar will run adjusted holiday hours:
Dec. 24: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Dec. 25: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Dec. 26: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Dec. 31: 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Jan. 1: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Also, starting January 23, KC Streetcar will be adding an extra hour of service Sunday through Thursday evenings. The hours of service will look like:
Sunday: 7 a.m. to midnight
Monday-Thursday: 6 a.m. to midnight
Friday: 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.
This link provides the latest updates about the streetcar extension, which will connect Downtown to Midtown, the Plaza, and UMKC in 2025.
#TheLoopWantsToKnow
Did you see this week’s question for Loop readers? If not, your chance to chime in is here.
And now, on to the The Loop….
The holidays Downtown, 75 years ago
In the week leading up to Christmas Day 1947, a lot was happening in Downtown Kansas City — most of which would have pleased Santa — but there were, of course, a few people who were working their way onto the Naughty List.
At Union Station, people had been parking their cars in the pit in front of the station, a spot reserved only for taxicabs. On Sunday night, Dec. 21, 1947, someone (also slated for the Naughty List) let the air out of the tires of 14 illegally parked cars. A representative of the Yellow Cab Co. told the Kansas City Times, “Our investigation fails to disclose that any of our employees were involved.”
Earlier on that same day, around 10,000 children attended the annual Mayor’s Christmas Tree Party at Municipal Auditorium. A Times sub-headline reported a “Magician, an Educated Dog and a Lariat Artist” delighted the audience after the show was commenced with everyone in attendance singing “Jingle Bells.”
The kids at the auditorium were mostly well-behaved, although maybe a little raucous. When a throng of children chose to stand in the aisles rather than sit in their seats, Santa took the microphone to ask them to go sit down. After the show concluded, Boy Scouts handed out boxes containing cookies, an apple, and an orange to all of the children.
Back at Union Station, holiday travel was heating up — as evidenced by the number of 10-cent popcorns sold at the terminal. One week before Christmas, the Times reported that sales of popcorn were a good indication of train-ticket sales. On Dec. 17, 1947, the manager of the lobby’s candy shop, G.A. Moore, said the store was on track to sell 900 boxes of popcorn that day. A normal day would have been 500 boxes.
“We can always detect the aroma of the corn when the crowds increase,” chief ticket seller George Mock told the newspaper. “We seldom notice the scent when business is a little slow.”
Candy store manager Moore added that, as Christmas Day approached and the crowds grew larger, popcorn sales would peak around 1,200 boxes per day.
“Imagine Downtown KC” Fall 2022 report
To inform members and interested stakeholders about progress on the implementation of the Imagine Downtown KC Strategic Plan, the Downtown Council of Kansas City shares updates from the quarterly Implementation Committee meetings, including this report from the Sept. 29 meeting.
LINK: Imagine Downtown KC Planning Update: Fall 2022
If you missed the Royals’ Downtown stadium “Listening Tour”….
The Kansas City Star’s “KC Sportsbeat” podcast has audio (and commentary) from the “town hall” meeting earlier this week:
LINK: Hear what John Sherman and other Royals officials said about their proposed downtown ballpark
Civil Rights photo exhibit at Black Archives of Mid-America
If you haven’t made it yet, time is running out on “I Am A Man: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1970” at the Black Archives of Mid-America in the 18th & Vine District. The traveling exhibit features photos from such flashpoints in the fight for equal rights and desegregation as James Meredith’s admission to the University of Mississippi, the Selma to Montgomery March, the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, Ku Klux Klan gatherings, the Poor People’s Campaign, the 1968 Mule Train from the Mississippi Delta to Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral. It is free of charge, and will be open until January 7, 2023.
LINK: I Am A Man – Photo Exhibit
Railroad, city consider warning system for Avenue Bridge
The flurries of memes and jokes on social media about the truck-eating bridge in the Northeast may soon be coming to an end. The Northeast News reports that the 110-year-old Independence Avenue Bridge bridge may be getting an early warning curtain system to warn today’s larger trucks about the low bridge height.
LINK: New clearance warning system slated for infamous Avenue bridge
Laugh-O-Gram rehab slated to start in 2023
Once on the demolition list, the 31st Street building where Walt Disney started it all is now on a list of projects scheduled to begin next year. The Kansas City Business Journal has more about plans to rehab the historic Laugh-O-Gram Studios building:
LINK: Thank You Walt Disney targets fall 2023 start on long-awaited Laugh-O-Gram Building restoration (paywall)
1940
Artful City: One weekly selection with a Downtown connection
Downtown Lens: A single image depicting the urban aesthetic
Who are all these people?
Answering the question “Who are all these people and where are they going?”, The Loop brings you a list of some of the biggest events happening Downtown each week. Please give a friendly Downtown-Kansas City welcome to audiences and attendees of….
TODAY
Official World Cup Final Watch Party this morning at KC Live! Block
Last day, Kansas City Symphony’s Christmas Festival at Kauffman Center
Last day, Holiday choirs from regional schools and organizations at Crown Center
Kansas City Ballet presents The Nutcracker through Dec. 24 at Kauffman Center
A Spectacular Christmas, through Dec. 23 at Music Theater Heritage
MONDAY the 19th
Spire Chamber Ensemble presents Handel's Messiah at Kauffman Center
TUESDAY the 20th
A Drag Queen Christmas at the Midland
WEDNESDAY the 21st
Kansas City Symphony presents Elf™ in Concert Film + Live Orchestra, Dec. 21-24 at Kauffman Center
ONGOING
Maya the Exhibition: The Great Jaguar Rises, most days through January 1, at Union Station
For a more exhaustive list of everything happening Downtown, go to the VisitKC events page and use the “regions” function to search for Downtown, Westside/Southwest Blvd, West Bottoms, River Market, Power & Light, Crown Center, Crossroads, 18th & Vine — or anywhere you want to go in the KC Metro
For live Kansas City Jazz performances, visit LiveJazzKC.com
Got a tip or question about Downtown KC?
Write to: tips@kcdowntownloop.com or contact The Loop via social media
Kevin Worley, Co-Publisher/Editorial
Joe Nichols, Co-Publisher/Business
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