Kansas City Blues

Five o'clock, read the clock on the Commerce Bank Building. The clock, dripping with aesthetics, hung out from the 1915 building it had known for so long, and it gazed down Walnut Street into the omnipresent wind. On the opposite corner, a man that was seeking better times stood, wobbling on one leg, about to negotiate crossing the street. Cars sped past, not taking so much as a second to appreciate what had been the place that was the beating heart of the region at one time. And the sounds faded as minutes passed, for five was the hallowed hour where everything came to a halt until the next morning. This is downtown Kansas City today, a place that cries for better attention, and innovation that could bring back that pulse it so needed.

I have lived in the Kansas City region for nearly 13 years. I was very young when we got here, and ignorant of the workings of Kansas City politics, and historic preservation. But then, what 8 year old isn't? Fortunately, the downtown area has become a good friend to me, but not without my making it so for myself. Even with the last ten years of unprecedented economic prosperity nationally, Kansas City's downtown has still missed the boat in making a comeback, unlike so many cities of comparable size.

"So what? KC is an ignorant city in the middle of a bunch of hicks." That's the gist of what a lot of people would say about the city and its problems, especially those on the outside of life here. But just a few minutes on the streets of downtown Kansas City, and you are instantly wondering why so many glaring errors were made. One does not need a degree in planning or an eye for urban issues to understand that something is very wrong here. One can easily see that over the past fifty years, little cohesiveness was accomplished in this once proud center.

Imagine 1949: you come downtown with your family to go shopping, just like in nearly every American city at that time. Only today, throngs of your fellow citizens are out and about, more so than you can recall before. It was in this year that Kansas City reached the big time in the retail sense: Macy's had come to town, a piece of New York right in the heart of America. Not only was this a big opportunity for shoppers, but it said something that an American downtown gained a new anchor store after World War II, something virtually unheard of in most cities. For in most places, the initial signs of neglect were at work, and Kansas City was no exception. But today, Kansas City held its head high with clogged downtown streets, cars unable to pass through, and a new 435,000 square foot department store opening its doors.

Now it is 1986, and the same scene is repeated, only today Macy's seems sad in a way, sad because the store will be closing amid the chain's bankruptcy problems in the 1980s. Throngs run through this old friend of a store, taking the last marked down items, even, in a few cases, buying fixtures that once held wares for so many years. This was the middle of an era of loss for downtown Kansas City.

Did it start that late? In the 80s? By no means. Kansas City holds a sad honor of doing virtually nothing to stem downtown's decline until it was nearly too late, and perhaps as today proves, it is too late in some ways.

"But aren't all downtowns, with few exceptions, non-viable retail centers today?" Ask yourself that. Do you really believe it? If we keep telling ourselves that, it does become reality. It is exemplified flawlessly in Kansas City's downtown.

They thought they could reverse it all with one big "cure all" of a plan: The Power and Light District, proposed for over 30 years in one form or another. AMC Theatres mogul Stan Durwood had high hopes for the downtown he watched sink from retail and commercial glory from the 1960s onward, and decided he would do anything he could to counter that. Finally, in 1996, he gained some ground, as the 70+ year old Durwood made another hyped up pitch for a mega entertainment complex for downtown Kansas City's derelict southern end. On what was then surface parking lots, a few distinctive buildings, and empty messes, would rise a complex anchored by a thirty screen cinema, destination retailing, and other family oriented ideas a la North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, or some of the ideas in Times Square of late.

Kansas City rolled out its biggest antagonistic red carpet this time. Virtually everyone from commercial development magnates to the guy asking for change had some typical doubt about what downtown could be again. Sure, these entertainment complexes are one stop fix it solutions that often "mall" a downtown, but they worked in Indianapolis, San Diego and other places. The hell with existing fabric and the cries of historians. The latter view there exemplifies much of Kansas City's past. Durwood did not give up, and he even established offices for the Power and Light plan, right downtown adjacent to the development area. Aggressive property acquisition began, and not surprisingly, existing business owners bristled. They had stayed downtown all along, and now they were being shoved out. The city did not care, this was the easy way to undo three decades of neglect and mistakes without focusing on their own lack of organization and innovation. To most of the city powers that be, the Power and Light plan was a-ok, for lack of a more orginal term for a less than original plan.

My head spun during this time, for so much attention was on downtown, but so little seemed certain. Surely, I thought, this big behemoth of a plan was the first step back to making downtown a place again, even though I knew it was always a real place before any Durwood idea.

Power and Light went to Kansas City voters on a ballot in late 1997, and they approved it markedly after aggressive commercials on television and in the media took their hold. Durwood seemed to have pulled off something he'd been working for for decades, and now…how the hell to get the Power and Light plan off the ground?

…I am standing at 13th and Main, a sad corner by any aesthetic ideal in Kansas City. In front of me, to the southeast, lie parking lots that hold few cars, considering what a gash they cut into the fabric of the downtown. To the southwest, a parking garage from the early 20th Century, a garage we could learn from today: built to look like a building in every way, but it had fallen on derelict times, as had the sad taverns on its ground level. One more thing for the average suburbanite to fear if and when they saw downtown.

Here, I think to myself, "what would it have looked like?" I will never know. Power and Light was declared "dead and buried" by none other than Mayor Kay Barnes in 2001. The plan had been delayed for years, land acquisition was nearly complete, and now that same land was up for grabs and being sold off to people with smaller, newer, less intrusive ideas.

Oh, and Mr. Durwood had died a few years ago, never seeing the end of his longtime dream.

This is probably a good place to emphasize the circuitous nature of Kansas City's downtown saga. Even amid outright voter support for partial funding for the Power and Light plan, it now lies in the cemetery of dreams that faded with the light. It was another big reminder that true organization and priorities downtown were not attended to, and something must be done now.

Meanwhile, three blocks north at 11th and Main, I gazed across the street at a new, completely faceless two story parking garage that had been completed a year or so before. I could somehow hear the echo of happy Macy's shoppers coming in and out of that commanding entrance right where 11th ended at Main, the onetime epicenter of Kansas City retailing. But now, my eyes faced the reality that a small garage with no ground floor retail space, all made of concrete, was seen as the proper replacement for a gem of an art moderne department store building that took over two years to complete.

It was 1996, about the same time Power and Light had become something to learn more about. Being a tender 16, I was already steeped in my love for cities, and for downtowns especially. I wanted my downtown, Kansas City, at least to retain the buildings that were once where all the stores were, the few that were left. Macy's was massive, and had been empty for many years. See, Dillard's bought out Macy's midwest stores, and after two years of darkness, reopened the downtown Macy's store as a Dillard's. The honeymoon did not last. Dillard's is still not a chain interested in downtown retailing, and by 1990, the registers shut off again at 1034 Main. More memories of downtown were locked inside.

I contacted the Missouri State Historical Society, which is directly connected to the state government. Upon talking to them, I was keenly encouraged by the staff to try to get the Macy's building on the state and national historic registers. They felt Kansas City was an unsafe place for old buildings, a feeling based on good examples of demolition that ignored character. The building was a bit short of the usual 50 year age requirement, but I set out to document the place.

"Transamerica Deal Hinges on Garage Plan." That was how the headline read in 1997 in a Kansas City Star article. I wondered what this was about, since parking garages always attracted my ire. Sure enough, my idea to preserve the Macy's building would be cut short as the Transamerica Insurance company demanded the city of Kansas City buy the Macy building, demolish it, and put a small garage on the site that would be used only for Transamerica employees.

"Strike two," I thought. My patience with the status quo downtown was past threadbare. I was outraged that another viable space was being lost to the comfort of the automobile and city politicking. Was I surprised? Yes and no. It was not the first time Kansas City government sold its soul to gain a few hundred jobs downtown, and it was not the first time the fabric of this city's center was shamed by lack of creativity. But I was continually surprised as to why decline kept hitting here…why weren't new, unique retailers being sought? Indeed after the 1990s, Main Street downtown gave virtually no idea of what it had been just two decades before, especially not architecturally.

Don't get me wrong, all cities should benefit from new construction, but in Kansas City, virtually nothing is lost without a parking facility being put where it was. I am of the school that if you want really ample parking…don't live or work downtown. Many other cities seem to deal with that idea well, and have a much more unified streetscape downtown.

It wasn't over yet.

One of those things you just felt sure would never disappear sure enough did just that in January 1998. "Jones to Close Downtown" was the gist of the headline that day in the Kansas City Star. My city loving heart sank to my feet upon reading this article. The picture showing the dated yet proud 1958 façade of the Jones Store, which had been at 12th and Main since at least 1900, through an amalgamation of many attractive buildings, and then through its final renovation in the late 50s.

This had to have been a long time coming. But it wasn't helped by the chain that owned the Jones Store being bought out by Dillard's, the same store that didn't care about downtown after it bought Macy's. After Dillard's quickly sold Jones to the May Company, the other cold behemoth of store chains, it decided to close the original downtown store, citing low sales figures and too large a store space to maintain. Keep in mind, again, the store hadn't been renovated in forty years. A little preventive maintenance could have helped.

Kansas City, not surprisingly, made little of this final nail in the coffin. The last example of a onetime retail base downtown closed after a wild final sell off of goods. Not since the 1970s had the downtown Jones Store been that busy, irony when a store is closing…a maelstrom of shoppers for a few short days.

How could it close? It made it all those years of low foot traffic, and made it into the era of the Power and Light plan, which would be helped by the presence of an anchor store nearby. In end, both died, and those of us in Kansas City that loved downtown for its potential and its past held our heads in our hands and wondered, "What will it really take?"

...It's 2001. While in Chicago, even State Street is becoming truly great again amid a flurry of retailing, while Cincinnati gains a new department store building and higher foot traffic, while the possibilities for what can be keep building in downtown Indianapolis, Kansas City is just as 9 to 5 as ever in the last thirty years. Even calling it a 9 to 5 downtown is a bit of a reach: foot traffic is not that brisk even during the rush hours and lunchtime, three times in a day where even smaller downtowns usually pick up.

Recently, a bunch of commercial development bigwigs formulated another "plan" for downtown. There had been other plans before. For example, starting in 1950, one plan had advocated ideas that were virtually buried under ignorance over the years, like shoring up the retail sector downtown, and ensuring new tenants be brought in over time. By 1980, according to one draft from downtown business interests, the core would be bustling with anchor stores and others amid more residents downtown and new living space. So far, the living space idea is taking off: even my own family moved into a big loft apartment downtown. But somehow, the need to drive out to the suburbs to all my mainstream shopping does not fit the urban ideal.

But, no matter, this new plan calls for more green space and less emphasis on parking structures (finally). Green space? It's downtown, it is not the top priority, or it should not be. Trust me, one visit to Kansas City's downtown reveals it has plenty of open space, even if most of it is surface parking. And citywide, it has a superior park and boulevard system. We have plenty of green space. If only myself and others that truly care about downtown's future and look could have some say in the matters. But here, and I am sure in many cities, it is the people that own the land that have all the say.

If you live in a city that has a renewed downtown, or one that never truly faded, enjoy it and care for it in every way. It is nothing short of an ongoing process to ensure downtown stability. It requires work every single minute and new ways of thinking. Downtown is truly a place no matter where you are, it is like an endeared family member to people that love cities. You hate to see it hurt by others, and you revel in seeing it lauded and cheered.

Visit Kansas City and think hard while you are here. There are amazing successes in the city despite a core that has been spoiled for decades. You can walk the ever quiet downtown streets and look at the buildings, especially the older ones, and think, "Oh you poor thing." That's just how I would put it. So many buildings trapped in a place that once was not just the city center, but the center of everyone's lives. If only the buildings and streets could share their memories and feelings with those of us who care, it would be a much different place, no doubt.

This is why Kansas City begs for innovation and thought, and why those entrenched in the old ways of handling downtown must either take stock of their thoughts or step aside. I implore any determined person out there that loves cities to come here and do something about it. We need you. This ain't Detroit, but sometimes you can empathize with Detroit when you look around some parts of downtown Kansas City.

Someday there will be a new heart to this large and expansive metroplex. I hope very much that it will reflect its past roles and jump head first into new and exciting ones. For now, I will keep hoping and enjoying what is splendid here, and wishing and working for more.

Text and photos by Ryan Caviglia

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