Downtown Aquarium

[drumatix]

Detroit may not have a full light-rail system, but they've got that sort of people mover/loop train that circles downtown. It's slightly larger than the Paris subway trains, and slightly smaller than an amusement park ride. Hours and hours of fun for a quarter is what it really is.

Can we combine the billion dollar sewer repair and the aquarium somehow?

[KCTigerFan]

The Gateway project will not happen in any current form without the aquarium.  The STAR bonds are crucial for the success of the development.  Without it you will probably get a glorified strip center.  

The issue at hand is what the lenders believe.  If they believe that KCMO will green-light an aquarium project you may see them backing off the Gateway project, STAR bonds or not.  If Gateway actually breaks ground I think a KCMO project would have a hard time securing loans.  

To me the aquarium should be in KCMO instead of the Mission Gateway location.  I think it could be a major cornerstone for riverfront development.  So somewhere Downtown on the Missouri would be my idea of a good location.  The Mississippi – Missouri river system is one of the largest in the world, it would be great if a part of the aquarium could be dedicated to the species of the river, as well as other oceans across the world.
As far as Mission Gateway, I think the 70,000 to 80,000 square foot area could be used as a new Whole Foods or a Neiman-Marcus. 
The question is how far commitments and planning has gone for the Mission Gateway aquarium and how long would it take for the planning for a KCMO facility would take.
I doubt it that the city of Mission or Kansas will sit and wait for KCMO to proceed before them.  To have two things so similar would be a waste.  Perhaps if the KS side builds theirs first (which will probably happen) KCMO could create a better museum of science and natural history in a combined location.  Something we really don’t have in the region.

[QueSi2Opie]

Houston for example has a great downtown aquarium that is a McQuarium.

I've been sayin' this from the beginning of the P&L development...bring in the interactive Aquarium Restaurant and nightclub concept that's owned by Landry's Restaurants, Inc. They have one in both Houston and just down the road at Kemah Boardwalk. These both survive and are doing fine, even with the massive Moody Gardens Aquarium in nearby Galveston.

[KCMax]

I agree this seems like a last-minute attempt for KCMO, but I also think it would be dumb to build another regional attraction in a distant location without usable mass transit.  We just repeated the monumental mistake of putting the baseball stadium away from the core, and we poised to do the same with an aquarium.

Having MAX in the Downtown/Plaza corridor has finally made it possible for tourists to go without cars.  Putting an aquarium in or adjacent to this corridor would do so much to build more critical mass of connected tourist destinations.  Unless JoCo gets serious about BRT on Shawnee Mission Parkway to connect Mission with the MAX, I say it makes more sense for an aquarium Downtown.

It really isn't that distant from the Plaza. Its much closer to RCP than say Swope Park and the Zoo.

I agree with CC, this is moot. The Mission project seems to be full steam ahead (finally) and why try to reinvent the wheel and compete with it when KCMO has so much more on its plate? Let Mission have its aquarium and work on strengthening your existing assets that are falling apart.

[KCPowercat]

kcmo has been looking at an aquarium for years...this mission thing obviously is lighting a fire underneath them but its not like all of a sudden the edc just came up with this idea.

our tourist attractions need to be centralized but whatever...we are never going to learn.  will this mission aquarium even be up to a tourist level of attraction?

[LenexatoKCMO]

  will this mission aquarium even be up to a tourist level of attraction?

Of course not.  But neither would be the McQuarium DT.  Other than the Nelson, this city has never built an attraction that is up to legitimate "tourist level" - they are always a wee short. 

[PumpkinStalker]

Of course not.  But neither would be the McQuarium DT.  Other than the Nelson, this city has never built an attraction that is up to legitimate "tourist level" - they are always a wee short. 

WW1 museum? 

[KCPowercat]

I disagree.  nlbm and liberty memorial are great tourists attractions any city would envy.

I would hate for the mission project to die...hopefully this can be figured out.  I liked the idea of a natural history museum that could include an aquarium....still think a city history museum would be popular as well.

sorry way off topic.

[KCMax]

I disagree.  nlbm and liberty memorial are great tourists attractions any city would envy.

I would hate for the mission project to die...hopefully this can be figured out.  I liked the idea of a natural history museum that could include an aquarium....still think a city history museum would be popular as well.

sorry way off topic.

I like the idea of KCMO building a Natural History Museum (PVP?) much better than trying to compete with Kansas for an aquarium.

[LenexatoKCMO]

WW1 museum? 

Great in actual museum content - but designed in such a way as to be almost 100% invisible to visitors - plus limited by an extremely small percentage of the population that is interested in the subject matter.  I think the attendance numbers bear out my point.

I disagree.  nlbm

They have done a hell of a lot with what the resources they have - but they don't have enough to be a front line tourirst attraction.  If they doubled their footprint/content and were in a more flashy facility, perhaps. 

My point is, we have so many attractions that just quite weren't built to their maximum potential.  There are reasons why we have all these attractions, yet KC is still perceived as a town with nothing to do - none of them have been built with grand enough scale to have profile. 

[PumpkinStalker]

I disagree.  nlbm and liberty memorial are great tourists attractions any city would envy.

I would hate for the mission project to die...hopefully this can be figured out.  I liked the idea of a natural history museum that could include an aquarium....still think a city history museum would be popular as well.

sorry way off topic.

Agree, I think a city history museum is something we should have.  Maybe it's just me and KCP (Fang!? Are you even still here?), but it's atrocious that a city of our size has nothing for a museum of our own history.  Towns like Platte City and Pleasant Hill have history museums.  We have the "Kansas City Museum" which is finally being remodeled to get rid of arsenic-laden rotting buffalos.  (They used arsenic in taxidermy many decades ago)  Why can't this be a museum for our city?  Hell, it's already got the right name for it.  

EDIT:  I'm glad the KCM is being turned into a history of the Long's, and I don't suggest ditching that idea.  I'm quite fascinated by their family history.  But we should have something that goes through our city timeline.

[KCPowercat]

people that have actually been here don't say there is nothing to do.....at least ones that I have spoke with

we don't have chicago level attractions...we aren't  chicago.  go to our peer cities, we run circles around their tourist attractions.

[KCTigerFan]

Agree 100% that we need a city history museum.  It makes sense to place it in Union Station or even in one of the old fire stations in the Crossroads.  Maybe the former Vedros building on 18th and Wyandotte. 

Agree, I think a city history museum is something we should have.  Maybe it's just me and KCP (Fang!? Are you even still here?), but it's atrocious that a city of our size has nothing for a museum of our own history.  Towns like Platte City and Pleasant Hill have history museums.  We have the "Kansas City Museum" which is finally being remodeled to get rid of arsenic-laden rotting buffalos.  (They used arsenic in taxidermy many decades ago)  Why can't this be a museum for our city?  Hell, it's already got the right name for it.  

EDIT:  I'm glad the KCM is being turned into a history of the Long's, and I don't suggest ditching that idea.  I'm quite fascinated by their family history.  But we should have something that goes through our city timeline.

[KCPowercat]

I have been beating the city history museum since kcskyscrapers was born....guess its voice isn't  very loud.

let mission throw up the aquarium...doesn't seem like the smartest location but hey, we are a car centered city, why even try and change it?  go mission.

[knucklehead]

A history museum at Union Station is clearly the way to go. We have several very interesting period that can be highlighted

Pre Discovery Indian culture
Explorers and Fur traders
Wild West (Buffalo Bill)
Santa Fe Trail
Steam Boats
Civil War - Boarder War
Jesse James
Post Civil War economic expansion
Roaring 20s
Prohibition and the Mob
Jazz Era
World War II
Truman
Post War

A history museum is not going to make a profit. It will need public and private support. But there is plenty of content and it is a history we "own".  One strategy would be to have a KC Hall of fame in the museum. You couild maybe get contributions from Hallmark or UMB by putting Joyce Hall and Crosby Kemper (ugh) in the Hall of fame. But if you spend 20 minutes to think about it, there have been some very colorful characters around this area.

As far as the Mission Acquarium - I have no problem with it being in Mission. Let the Kansas people provide the tax subsidy for this. My preferred location for an acquarium is the zoo - but is Kansas wants to foot the bill, Mission is fine.

My main concern is that at 1.5 million gallons it is a pretty small acquarium. But personally, I think a quality history museum is a higher priority than an acqurium. You can find acquariums in every large city.  

[LenexatoKCMO]

...we aren't  chicago.  go to our peer cities, we run circles around their tourist attractions.

Cleveland?  St. Louis?  Where's our Rock & Roll HOF?  Besides, size of the city is largely irrelevant - many of the premier tourist attractions in the country are in towns a tiny fraction of KC - they all just did the attractions so well that it doesn't matter.  How big is Monterey, CA? - home of the aquarium we could never hope to come close to - cann't be much more than 100k.  

[KCMax]

I have been beating the city history museum since kcskyscrapers was born....guess its voice isn't  very loud.

let mission throw up the aquarium...doesn't seem like the smartest location but hey, we are a car centered city, why even try and change it?  go mission.

The project has made a point to try to incorporate mass transit.

[PumpkinStalker]

I know we're getting off topic, but it's all fairly relevant.  What happened to the fire museum....from my childhood I thought we used to have one over in the government district and now it's all surface lots...?

[knucklehead]

Cleveland?  St. Louis?  Where's our Rock & Roll HOF?  Besides, size of the city is largely irrelevant - many of the premier tourist attractions in the country are in towns a tiny fraction of KC - they all just did the attractions so well that it doesn't matter.  How big is Monterey, CA? - home of the aquarium we could never hope to come close to - cann't be much more than 100k.  

I have been to the Monterey Acquarium. First, the physcial plant isn't impressive there. I loved the acqurium but what sells it is the charm of Monterey.

Second, Monterey has a big advantage we don't. It is located on the ocean front right next to a huge deep sea trench. Monterery is ideally positioned as a hub of ocean life research. It also has the advantage of idealic weather.

The acqurium itself is fairly small. I don't know the attendance figures. They may be impressive because the weather is good all year long. But on the day I went I doubt if more than 3,000 people went through the place and that was a Saturday.

Again, don't get me wrong, I loved the place. But it is no San Diego Zoo in turns of attendance. That is actually why an acqurium is a good idea for Kansas City. The scale is managable.

[KCPowercat]

I think we have a good selection of attractions for a wide variety of tourists.....sometimes hard to appreciate when we are residents.  I know when I have been to other cities leafing through their tourist propoganda, I find myself thinking "that's it?"  not finding things like nlbm, kaliedescope, nelson, ww1, nlbm, etc. 

we don't have that one big time attraction though (rock and roll hof, arch) I agree with you there.  any ideas?  a big aquarium isn't  it..too overdone.