In The Loop: January 2024
Publishing through April 2024 — thank you for your support
Happy New Year, Loopers! There’s good stuff ahead for Downtown Kansas City in 2024, and the headliner might be the opening in March of the KC Current’s riverfront soccer stadium. Season ticket allotments for the 11,500-seat stadium are sold out, so it’ll be a hot ticket when the games begin.
At Union Station, the big “Disney 100: The Exhibition” opens in May.
In April, developer SomeraRoad is scheduled to officially begin construction on its West Bottoms redevelopment project that will add thousands of apartments and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail and office space.
A few months later, construction is set to begin on the South Loop Project, putting a “lid” on I-670 and creating a four-block wide urban park.
And, of course, work will continue on the KCStreetcar Main Street extension, which is expected to open in Spring of 2025. Hopefully, riverfront streetcar construction will begin, as planned, this year as well.
I also wanted to recognize the great work and career of Kevin Collison, reporter extraordinaire, who covered Downtown like no one else in this city for many years. Since 2106, following his time at the Kansas City Star, Collison has provided the most in-depth, up-to-date news on current events in Downtown, Midtown, and the Plaza via his online CitySceneKC website and emails. As of today, Collison has retired and shut down CitySceneKC, and I am among the many who will very much miss his work.
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Like CitySceneKC, The Loop will be closing down soon. If you enjoyed The Loop and never got a chance to subscribe or support the publication during its two-and-a-half-year run, you can still support our remaining monthly bills (mostly historical research, graphic design, and website subscription services) via Venmo: @kcdowntownloop
And now, on to the The Loop….
No prizes or praises, just a trivia question to test your Downtown knowledge….
Q. The Ready-Mixed Concrete Co. supplied concrete to Depression-era projects such as the civic center (Kansas City City Hall, KCPD headquarters, and the Jackson County Courthouse), Municipal Auditorium, and much of the city’s streets and infrastructure. Who was the company’s vice president, who also happened to be the largest shareholder of the corporation?
A. See the answer near the bottom of this issue.
From Belger Arts, Dec. 28:
After 19 years and countless tours, gallery assistant Mo Dickens will retire from Belger in January. In honor of this momentous occasion, we will host a public reception at the Belger Arts Center (2100 Walnut) from 6 to 8 p.m. on First Friday, January 5, 2024. If you can’t make it that day, the Terry Winters’ exhibition will be open during holiday hours through December 30 and regular hours through Saturday, January 6, 2024, so come by, get a tour from Mo, and wish him well.
Mo’s career at Belger started with a brief stint as a volunteer, then as an official employee in 2004 at the Belger Arts Center location on Walnut Street in the Crossroads Arts District. At that time, half of Belger’s current gallery space was used for exhibitions with the downstairs loading dock serving as a stage for dance and musical performances — most often Music Theater Heritage before they moved to Crown Center around 2008.
Mo has also helped with numerous loans of artworks from the Belger Collection to museums across the country and a few in Europe. He’s given exhibition tours by artists from at least 59 countries and has greeted visitors from six continents.
As Mo puts it, “Visitors have come in all ages . . . without them, I would just be working in a storage unit. It’s the visitors who activate an art space, and I appreciate them.”
Since the early days, Belger Arts has grown to include the Belger Crane Yard Studios (2011 Tracy Ave.) and Belger Glass Annex (1219 E. 19th St.), and Mo has played a vital role in our expansion. The ultimate raconteur, we’ll miss his sense of humor and the care and time he has taken with each visitor.
After the Terry Winters’ exhibition closes on January 6, the Belger Arts Center galleries will be closed until April 5, 2024, when our next exhibition opens. We will have exhibitions and public programs at our Belger Crane Yard Studios and Belger Glass Annex locations, so stay tuned to our social platforms and website (BelgerArts.org) for more information.
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Art hard, Mo! Congratulations from The Loop!
Jan. 22, 1882: Architect William Wight born in Canada
William Wight was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia this month in 1882. About 19 years later, he moved from New York to Kansas City where he bought out the business partner of his brother Thomas’s architecture firm and formed the renowned Kansas City architecture firm, Wight & Wight.
Together the brothers created some of our city’s most notable and iconic buildings, including these Downtown structures (in addition to the Nelson-Atkins) pictured below:
Jan. 19, 1892: The Deardorff Building burns
Water used to put out a fire at 11th and Main streets froze in the January cold, creating a sort of ice palace 132 years ago.
Jan. 1, 1924: Despite Prohibition and cold, Downtown rocks New Year’s Eve
While subzero temperatures and plainclothes lawmen sniffing out alcohol put a damper on New Year’s Eve 1923, thousands of folks still made it Downtown to ring in the New Year with music, food, dancing, and camaraderie.
A story in the Kansas City Times on New Year’s Day reported very little commotion in the way of illegal drinks or other arrests during the festivities, and “At 1 o’clock this morning the police commissioners and Chief Vassar joined in a statement expressing thanks to the clubs and hotels for their co-operation in enforcing the prohibition laws.”
Because of the severe cold, the city streets were virtually devoid of any pedestrians after 10 p.m. People arrived by private cars and taxicabs, and the newspaper reported a shortage of taxis. Inside several of the cozy, warm clubs and establishments, however, thousands partied.
“The Kansas City Athletic Club entertained about 1,600 guests,” the Times wrote. “Four floors, the main dining room and the roof garden were used.”
At the Kansas City Club, about 750 guests welcomed in 1924.
“The dining room was crowded and there were tables on the balcony and in several special banquet rooms,” according to the Times,“ adding that large parties were also found at the grill room of the Hotel Muehlebach and at the Pompeiian terrace and dining parlors of the Hotel Baltimore.
Bringing you some of the most interesting properties for sale or lease in and around Downtown Kansas City….
1,600 square feet rental with 2 beds, 2 baths — and parking
1744 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108
Listed by: Integrity 1st Properties
Lease: $2,700/month
See the property online here
Homes and buildings featured in The Loop are not necessarily recommendations or endorsements, but rather illustrations of interesting properties for sale or lease in the vicinity of Downtown. Properties may or may not remain available at time of publishing.
1948
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….
January 2024
1st - 6th
First Friday, Jan. 5 in the Crossroads Arts District
First Friday Weekend, Jan. 4-7 in the Tower East KC neighborhood
First Friday Weekend, Jan. 5-7 in the West Bottoms district
7th - 13th
Trailblazing Talks with Ella Al-Shamahi, Paleoanthropologist, Jan. 9 at Kauffman Center
The Hollywood Medium Tyler Henry, Jan. 11 at the Midland
Kansas City Symphony presents Joyce DiDonato’s Sparkling Songs and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Jan. 12-14 at Kauffman Center
Monster Jam, Jan. 13-14 at T-Mobile Center
14th - 20th
Kansas City Symphony presents Cirque Carmen Troupe Vertigo, Jan. 19-21 at Kauffman Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Extraordinary Imaginations, Jan 20 at the Folly
Winter Jam, Jan. 21 at T-Mobile Center
21st - 27th
Harriman-Jewell Series presents Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Isata Kanneh-Mason, Piano, Jan. 23 at Kauffman Center
PNC Broadway in Kansas City presents Girl From The North Country, Jan. 23-28 at Kauffman Center
The Kansas City RV Show, Jan 25-28 at Bartle Hall
Disney on Ice, Jan 25-28 at T-Mobile Center
Kansas City Symphony presents Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Jan. 26-28 at Kauffman Center
The Hot Sardines, Jan. 27 at the Folly
28th - 31st
No Gravity performing Divine Comedy, Jan. 31 at the Folly
ONGOING
Crown Center Ice Terrace 2023-2024 Season, through March 10
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
Q. The Ready-Mixed Concrete Co. supplied concrete to Depression-era projects such as the civic center (Kansas City City Hall, KCPD headquarters, and the Jackson County Courthouse), Municipal Auditorium, and much of the city’s streets and infrastructure. Who was the company’s vice president, who also happened to be the largest shareholder of the corporation?
A. Tom Pendergast, who died at age 72 on January 26, 1945, was the largest shareholder of the the Ready-Mixed Concrete Co., as well as several affiliated companies.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
I only just found this substack, and it's sad to hear that it's shutting down. Can you recommend where curious Kansas Citians can continue to learn about new developments, upcoming events, past history, and similar content to what the KC Downtown Loop or CitySceneKC have provided?