In The Loop: March 2023
Your connection to Downtown Kansas City
The new terminal at Kansas City International Airport opens in two days, and Downtown nerds like me will be happy that the city center is well-represented in the food and retail offerings (and branding) in the new facility.
From the City Market you’ll find Bloom Baking Company, Brown & Loe, City Market Coffee Roasters, Hungry Hatch, Pigwich, and Taste of Brazil. There’s also a City Market Retail venue.
Other food places either based Downtown or with Downtown locations include Guy’s Snacks Deli & Pub, Messenger Coffee Co., Parisi Coffee, Stockyards Brewing Co., Bo Lings, Boulevard Brewing Company, and Buffalo State Pizza Co.
New Orleans-style Soiree Steak & Oyster House will feature rotating exhibits from 18th & Vine’s American Jazz Museum. And speaking of the Jazz District, it has several other branded offerings as well.
As reported in the Kansas City Star: “Director’s Cut Take 2: A spa and salon inspired by Armon Lasker’s original The Director’s Cut located in the historic 18th & Vine neighborhood…. will offer men’s and women’s haircuts, styling, spa services and a range of styling products.”
Two other Jazz District-branded venues, 18th & Vine Essentials and The Market at 18th & Vine, will add even more retail.
Finally, the Made in Kansas City Marketplace and Lego, both with a presence in Downtown, will have retail venues in the terminal. Time to book a trip!
And now, on to the The Loop….
No prizes or praises (for now), just a trivia question to test your Downtown knowledge….
Q. When the City of Kansas was officially incorporated by the State of Missouri on March 28, 1853, it was bordered on the north by the Missouri River, and on the west by Bluff Road (roughly where I-35 runs today). What streets constituted the eastern and southern borders of that early version of KC?
A. See the answer below the “Signboard Hill” section at the bottom of this issue.
March 15, 1859: Lafayette A. Tillman born
This month marks the birth date of Lafayette Tillman, an Indiana native who became a well-respected Kansas Citian in the 1880s. As a scholar, businessman, military leader, and public servant, he stretched the boundaries of race in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A talented vocalist, Tillman’s first visit to Kansas City was likely when he performed here in 1880 with a singing group called the Donovan’s Tennesseans. A year later, he returned to reside in the city, first opening a restaurant at 105 E. 12th Street, then working as a barber and studying law before opening his own barber shop at 12th and Grand in 1889.
In 1896, he enrolled at the Kansas City School of Law, but with the start of the Spanish-American War, he left the school in 1898 and enlisted to fight. After exemplary duty and leadership in that conflict, he returned to KC before President William McKinley appointed him as a first lieutenant with the all-black Forty-Ninth Volunteer Infantry at Luzon, in the Philippines. After two years of service there, Tillman returned to KC to stay.
Impressed with his patriotism and loyalty, a group of influential white Kansas Citians (likely clients of his barber shop, if handwriting on the back of a family photo is accurate) helped Tillman secure a position as one of Kansas City’s first black police officers in 1903. (Most accounts identify William Davis as the first black policeman in Kansas City, appointed in 1874, and Tillman as the second, but apparently Tillman was the first black man to literally wear the uniform of the Kansas City Police Department, so there is often confusion about who was first.)
Tillman’s story was the exception and not the norm, of course. Most African-American citizens in late 19th and early 20th century Kansas City were not so fortunate to have any significant education (if any education at all), nor a steady career, or the support of the white community.
Tillman, a police officer until the day he died at the age of 55 from an intestinal disease, was buried at Highland Cemetery in Kansas City with full military honors. His children carried on their father’s legacy of education and public service: His two daughters became teachers (Portia in KC; June in Tipton, Mo.), and his son, Dr. Lon Tillman, was a leader in the Kansas City medical community, associated with Wheatley-Provident Hospital and General Hospital No. 2, both facilities that served black patients.
March 2008: The Fire Alarm Exchange Building is razed
It was 15 years ago in late March that the two-story Fire Alarm Exchange Building near 22nd and Gillham on Hospital Hill was demolished. The building, completed in 1925, housed fire alarm operators who dispatched crews to emergencies around the city. The facility was in operation until the early 1990s, but had been boarded up and vacant for several years before crews tore it down.
In a roundabout way, the old brick building’s demise (sort of) provided new life for another Kansas City historic treasure: The Ninth Street Fountain, designed by George Kessler and John VanBrunt and known as the city’s oldest operating fountain since 1899. (In fact, it was the city’s second-ever fountain.)
By 2006, however, the fountain — renamed Women’s Leadership Fountain — was inoperable, missing pieces, and in serious decay, even after more than $125,000 was raised by the Central Exchange in 1989 for partial repairs.
So what did the leveling of the Fire Alarm Exchange Building have to do with restoring an old fountain located two miles away, at Ninth and Paseo?
Turns out the alarm exchange building was built on a 1.7-acre sliver of municipal park land — although it was not used as a park. The board of the Parks and Recreation Department looked to sell the property on which the old alarm exchange building sat, but city charter required a public vote for the city to sell the park property.
So the park board asked the city council to put the sale of the property up for a vote — with the promise that proceeds would go toward the estimated $1.5 million needed to restore the fountain.
In March of 2007, the voters of Kansas City passed the measure. Some time between 2007 and 2008, the sale raised $1.2 million. However, I have yet to pinpoint why the Fire Alarm Exchange Building could not be saved. The best I can tell so far, is that the building was in the way of plans for a new street configuration. (If you have insight, please comment here or send me a message.)
In any case, restoration of the Women’s Leadership Fountain began in July 2008, with three additional restorations along the Paseo added to the project: the August R. Meyer Memorial and pergola at 10th Street, and the William T. Fitzsimons Memorial Fountain on 12th. With proceeds from the sale of the alarm exchange park property, in addition to sales tax funds, $2.67 million was spent on the four total restorations.
Today, the Fire Alarm Exchange Building park land is basically the expanded and reconfigured intersection of Gillham, Oak, and 22nd Streets.
News Release: H&R Block donates $10 million to South Loop park
H&R Block Inc., in partnership with the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation and the H&R Block Foundation, committed a lead gift of $10 million toward the South Loop Project, a sustainable park in the heart of downtown Kansas City. The pledge marks the largest private donation so far to the proposed green space project. Here’s more, straight from H&R Block:
LINK: South Loop Project Hits Major Funding Milestone
News Release: Applications now open for 2023 Art in the Loop Program
The Art in the Loop Foundation, along with the KC Streetcar Authority, are looking for artists to bring their creativity to Downtown Kansas City. Deadline to apply is Friday, March 17, 2023. Get more details, including how to attend informational sessions, at either of these links:
LINK: Art in the Loop Foundation: 2023 Art in the Loop Project: Celebrate
LINK: KC Streetcar Authority: Call for Visual Artists
And from the Twittersphere, Kevin Collison of CitySceneKC reports about additional plans for the Kaw River area near HyVee Arena….
Scanning the Interwebs to bring you some of the most interesting properties for sale or lease in and around Downtown Kansas City. (Photos expand on the website)
Liberty Lofts: Industrial warmth, right next to Union Station
Property presented by: Heather Koroch
Brokered by: Keller Williams Realty Partners, Inc
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 in the greater Downtown vicinity
You can Venmo a one-time gift of any amount to @kcdowntownloop, or use the QR code below. There are no benefits to making this gift, but you will have our never-ending gratitude and you’ll help us continue publishing The Loop.
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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….
FEBRUARY
TODAY
Last day, Kansas City Ballet presents Cinderella at Kauffman Center
Harriman-Jewell Series presents Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Music Director Riccardo Muti and Violinist Julia Fischer at Kauffman Center
Last day, Disney On Ice presents Let’s Celebrate at T-Mobile Center
GEAPS (Grain Elevator and Processing Society) Exchange 2023 continues through Feb. 28 at Bartle Hall
TUESDAY the 28th
Six: The Musical, Feb. 28 - Mar. 5 at the Music Hall
MARCH
1st - 4th
The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour presents Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie starring Indigo Blume, March 1 at the Folly
MIAA Basketball Championships, March 1-5 at Municipal Auditorium
First Friday Weekend, March 2-5 in the Tower East KC neighborhood
First Friday, March 3 in the Crossroads Arts District
Kansas City Symphony presents Ravel's "Rapsodie" and the Poem of Ecstasy, March 3 at Kauffman Center
Sweet Honey In The Rock, March 3 at the Folly
Winter Jam, March 3 at T-Mobile Center
First Friday Weekend, March 3-5 in the West Bottoms district
Inon Barnatan, March 4 at the Folly
5th - 11th
Tenebrae, Choral Ensemble, March 5 at the Folly
Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, March 5 at the Midland
Kansas City Classic Orchestra and Band Festival presented by Youth Symphony of Kansas City, free day of music March 7 at Kauffman Center
Subtronics, March 8 at the Midland
Heart of America Cluster Dog Shows, March 8-12 at Hale Arena
Chris D'Elia, March 9 at the Midland
Gaelic Storm & The High Kings, March 9 at Kauffman Center
Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Championship, March 8-11 at T-Mobile Center
Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship, March 9-12 at Municipal Auditorium
World of Wheels, March 10-12 at Bartle Hall (with Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav on Friday and Mahomes Super-Fan Henry Winkler all weekend long!)
Alter Bridge, March 11 at the Midland
Oleta Adams, March 11 at the Folly
Lyric Opera of Kansas City presents The Shining, March 11-19 at Kauffman Center
12th - 18th
Kenny G with the Kansas City Symphony, March 13 at Kauffman Center
NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship, March 13-18 at Municipal Auditorium
The Ripple, the Wave that Carried Me Home, March 14 - April 2 at KC Rep Copaken Stage
St. Patrick’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 17 from Linwood to 43rd Street on Broadway
WWE Friday Night Smackdown, March 17 at T-Mobile Center
Skillet and Theory of a Deadman, March 17 at the Midland
Planet Comicon 2023, March 17-19 at Bartle Hall
Blake Shelton, March 18 at T-Mobile Center
90s Throwback Jam, March 18 at the Midland
Indigo Girls with the Kansas City Symphony, March 18 at Kauffman Center
19th - 25th
Hamilton: The Broadway Musical, March 21-April 2 at the Music Hall
National Society of Black Engineers Annual Convention, March 22-25 at Bartle Hall
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series in partnership with KC Friends of Alvin Ailey, March 24-25 at Kauffman Center
Kansas City Symphony presents Holst's "The Planets" featuring the Women of the KC Symphony Chorus, March 24-26 at Kauffman Center
Midwest Regional of the NCAA ® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, March 24 and 26 at T-Mobile Center
J.I.D and Smino, March 25 at the Midland
The Heartland Men's Chorus presents After All: 60 Years of Cher, March 25-26 at the Folly
26th - 31st
Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott, Cello and Piano, March 31 at the Folly
Kansas City Symphony presents Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and Nielsen's "Inextinguishable," March 31-April 1 at Kauffman Center
ONGOING
Crown Center Ice Terrace 2022-2023 Season, through March 12
Maya: The Exhibition, extended through March 12 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
Coming soon!
Q. When the City of Kansas was officially incorporated by the State of Missouri on March 28, 1853, it was bordered on the north by the Missouri River, and on the west by Bluff Road (roughly where I-35 runs today). What streets constituted the eastern and southern borders of that early version of KC?
A. The eastern border was Holmes Street and the southern border was Independence Avenue: about 10 blocks from east to west and roughly five blocks from north to south.
Did you see this week’s question, quiz, or poll? If not, your chance to chime in is here.
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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