In The Loop: June 12, 2022
The weekly email from your online publication for all things Downtown
Greetings, fellow Loopers! As we ramp up to bring you additional content, we also have big plans on the social/celebratory front: Save Friday, August 12, on your calendar for The KC Downtown Loop’s Official Launch Party! More details to follow. But for now, here’s this week’s “In The Loop”….
This Tuesday is the anniversary of the opening in 1936 of the Little Theater and of the Music Hall, both venues that feature the Art Deco theme as part of Municipal Auditorium. The host building and auditorium opened more than six months earlier, in December 1935, because the “parent building” was under a separate construction contract from the two venues it contained.
The 2,600-seat Music Hall was originally built as the home for the Kansas City Philharmonic orchestra, and continues to serve as a venue for national performing acts, traveling musicals, local dance recitals, and other events.
The Little Theater was described in the grand opening program as “Jewel of the auditorium,” and “a room of breath-taking and fairy tale beauty.” It is an octagonal room meant for smaller events, and is available today for meetings and celebratory occasions with general seating for up to 400 people, or banquet seating for up to 220.
If you know you’ll be making a visit to the auditorium, Music Hall, or Little Theater, I suggest going early to take in the Art Deco vibes that define the building and its venues. It’s truly one of Kansas City’s most beautiful and historic interiors.
Wednesday of this week marks the 89th anniversary of the Union Station Massacre. Only a day before the massacre, escaped convict Frank Nash had been arrested in Arkansas, and was escorted by agents of the U.S. Bureau of Investigation (later the F.B.I.) on an overnight train to Kansas City. Nash’s final destination would be Leavenworth prison.
The next morning—June 17, 1933—five federal agents and two Kansas City police offers escorted prisoner Nash from the train to a car parked outside Union Station. As Nash and the lawmen began to get situated in the car—some were seated, some remained standing outside the Chevrolet—three, or possibly four, gunmen emerged, some with machine guns.
The two Kansas City police officers, in addition to two federal agents and prisoner Nash, were all killed in the attack that the survivors estimated to last 30 seconds. When a gunman checked the car and told his accomplices that everyone was dead (they weren’t; three agents in the back seat had survived), the attackers fled west in their own car.
Although the FBI, to this day, claims to have identified the gunmen, respected historians have argued that the attackers remain unknown, and that the guilt of at least some of the accused remains questionable.
And how did the gunmen, presumably friends of Nash, even know that he had been arrested the day before and was headed to Kansas City on a train that morning? Many believe that Kansas City underworld boss Johnny Lazia, right-hand man of Tom Pendergast, could have been tipped off by the Kansas City Police—an organization that Lazia basically ruled through bribery and by hiring his own men as officers.
In addition, one of the federal agents told an Associated Press reporter about the Arkansas arrest before boarding the train with Nash, and apparently someone in Kansas City reading the news later that night or early morning could have seen an actual story.
Regardless of guilt or innocence, the three suspects identified by the U.S. Bureau of Investigation—along with Lazia—all soon met their maker. Vernon Miller was murdered, likely in a mobster killing, near Detroit in 1933. Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was killed by lawmen in a shootout in 1934. Suspected shooter Adam Richetti was arrested and found guilty before being executed in 1938.
Lazia, who allegedly helped protect the Union Station Massacre assailants from prosecution, was shot to death by unknown gunmen in front of his home at the Park Central Hotel in Midtown a little over a year after the Union Station killings.
The happenings in Kansas City, especially the massacre that claimed the lives of local and federal law enforcement officers, changed the way Americans viewed crime (in addition to how they came to view Kansas City as a lawless, corrupt city). From these events, Congress gave greater authority to the U.S. Bureau of Investigation, renaming it the F.B.I. and boosting its powers to arrest and carry weapons.
Downtown traffic alert! Construction around the Buck O’Neil Bridge and the loop highway will again create new closures and detours for drivers. More from the Downtown Council:
And speaking of construction (and excavation) in that area, KSHB-TV has a brief feature about how archaeologists are required to be on site for certain digs—and what they’ve found recently Downtown:
New York art-punk band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs came to KC to record a video for their song, “Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” and it was being shown in Times Square (among other places) as of last week. The video was produced and directed by two Kansas City Art Institute grads—one now based in LA, and one based in New York. Many local production professionals worked on the project as well. Laura Spencer and KCUR 89.3 FM have the full story:
Yes, the streetcar is free in Kansas City. But so is the bus. I know, because I frequently hop on the bus (either the #47 or the Main Max) to get from my home in Midtown to my office Downtown—absolutely free. And now, Kansas City’s Zero Fare Transit Initiative has been recognized nationally. Here’s a link from Mike Hurd and the Downtown Council:
P.S.— If you’re looking for bus routes, instead of the RideKC website, I’ve found it easier to just look for directions on Google Maps and select the “transit” option (the icon looks like a bus or streetcar).
If you’ve driven through the Historic Northeast neighborhoods, particularly Pendleton Heights, you may have spotted what appears to be an Asian temple very close to PH Coffee. It’s Chùa Quan Am, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple built in 2015, and soon to be getting an exterior facelift. The Northeast News tells about the recently completed interior renovations and what’s next:
LINK: Chùa Quan Am Temple finishes interior renovations, begins outdoor beautification
1977
Last month, we featured Elvis’s first Kansas City concert (in May 1956) in the “Almanac” section of this newsletter. This image (photographer unknown) is from Elvis’s last Kansas City concert: June 18, 1977, at Kemper Arena.
He supposedly told the crowd of 18,000 on that Saturday night, "In spite of what you may hear or you may read, we're here, and we're healthy, and we're doing what we enjoy doing."
Unfortunately, by 1977 Elvis’s poor health and erratic performance were showing on stage, but the crowd didn’t seem to care. A reporter for the Star, Shifra Stein, noted the King’s struggles during the show, however, and wrote this:
“It isn’t a pretty sight to behold a crumbling phenomenon. Urged on and on around the country by fans who rely on his past glories to fuel their image of him, Elvis is like a bull in the ring. He belongs to the crowd—and they refuse to let him go.”
Elvis would die eight and a half weeks later, on August 16, 1977, at the age of 42.
A YouTube account has footage from this 1977 Kansas City Concert at this link:
https://youtu.be/kh7ufjqINhM
The first 16 minutes of the video is from the Kemper Arena show.
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Artful City: One weekly selection with a Downtown connection
Quick Clip: The city in motion—just a few seconds at a time
Downtown Lens: A single image depicting the urban aesthetic
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
Future Stages Festival at Kauffman Center
TUESDAY the 14th
Béla Fleck: My Bluegrass Heart at Kauffman Center
THURSDAY the 16th
Titanic continues through July 3rd at the Music Theater Heritage
FRIDAY the 17th
Kansas City Symphony presents Sleeping Beauty with Sibelius' Violin Concerto, continues through June 19th at Kauffman Center
Dirt Road Addiction at KC Live! Block in P&L
SATURDAY the 18th
Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizarraga at the T-Mobile Center
Los Subtropicales at KC Live! Block in P&L
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
Until next week—enjoy the city!
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
Hannah Schuh, Intern
107 W. Ninth Street, Suite 210
Kansas City, MO 64105
Give The Loop a boost: Become a Founding Subscriber
In addition to having access to all content, and receiving invitations to The Loop’s Downtown events, Founders Level subscribers ($200 annually, or any amount above) receive a Downtown Loop sticker, a T-shirt in their choice of fit, size, and color, and recognition on the website.
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