OFFICIAL: Port Authority Riverfront Project

[dangerboy]

Port Authority and Forest City are on KCUR right now, 11am to noon.

[KCMax]

I like the aquariam idea. $90-100 million huh? For the money we could be pouring into the TSC we could upgrade the TSC to compliance, build an aquarium, finish the funding for PAC, and probably get started on a rail system through the RCP.

But hey, sports teams make us major league!

[staubio]

I like the aquariam idea. $90-100 million huh? For the money we could be pouring into the TSC we could upgrade the TSC to compliance, build an aquarium, finish the funding for PAC, and probably get started on a rail system through the RCP.

But hey, sports teams make us major league!

That stuff would spur additional investment!  Stupid idea!

[dangerboy]

Stabio, you going 2nite or waiting for tomorrow for Staubio vs Gorman 2.0 ?

[staubio]

Stabio, you going 2nite or waiting for tomorrow for Staubio vs Gorman 2.0 ?

I think I'll wait.  I definately need to make sure that Anita is appropriately balanced.  I'll be packing a hidden microphone this time to catch any additional magic.

[DaveKCMO]

attended the southtown meeting tonight. after a lengthy powerpoint, two concepts were presented, which i'm sure will eventually be posted on the port authority website, so i won't go into much detail here... except for the second concept which included an "innner harbor" of sorts that incorporated an amphitheater, a light-use harbor, and a stepped ("armored") levee. i'm not sure if anyone saw that coming, but i was totally surprised to see such a bold idea! feedback in my working group was positive, and it seems that most of the parking freaks were kept in check by the facts on how many spaces would be available on-street and in adjacent facilities (1,200+). this will also be a multi-million dollar example of Kay's rain gardens!

in short, you should all go to the meeting tomorrow night!

[KCMax]

I've long thought KC needed an ampitheater on the riverfront. Glad to hear I'm not crazy for thinking so! Sounds great! Thanks for the update Dave.

[KCDevin]

Did they go into detail or any renderings?
I suppose they still like to propose for under 20 floors?

[DaveKCMO]

Did they go into detail or any renderings?
I suppose they still like to propose for under 20 floors?

they stressed that they were just showing concepts, not renderings, but they were actual drawings on paper. final designs and cost estimates of just the park will be presented in june (no date has been set). from what i've gathered, the actual housing stock will be mostly low-rise, which i think is appropriate given the location.

[KCDevin]

I wonder if we could do this between the New Hannibal Bridge and ASB Bridge:



Harrah's has the right idea in the wrong location:

[kard]

teepees and steam boats?

Or do you mean row houses right up to the river?

[KCDevin]

The buildings right up to the river. Before I resized the image to be smaller, you could see them much better. There are like 2 buildings just like those in that drawing/postcard

[DaveKCMO]

if you haven't downloaded the PDF presentation from last week's meeting, you can do so here: http://www.kcportauthority.com/aboutUs/ ... gFinal.pdf

go straight to slides 54-58 to see the amazing "harbor option".

now... discuss!

[KCDevin]

I like the harbor option. But what would happen if we experienced a flood like 1993 or 1950?

[ComandanteCero]

ah, cool document.  The harbor thing looks interesting, but i'll be just as happy if they are able to do a cool "armored levee".  I like rivers that have that kind of conection with the edge.

One thing i think they could improve is the way the retail portion is sited in their master plan.  I think they should try to make the retail as connected to the park and river views as possible (i.e be able to have a meal at a sidewalk cafe overlooking the river/park).  The way they have it sited in their masterplan it would be inside the neighborhood.

I also wonder about potential conflicts between the "concert/public venue" portion of the park and the townhomes.  If anything i'd try to keep the more public/trafficked part of the park near the retail....

i'm guessing there's a rationale for how they did what they did, it would be interesting to read about it.

[kard]

I like the harbor option. But what would happen if we experienced a flood like 1993 or 1950?

This question was posed at the meeting I was at.  They said that the '93 flood came with in 3" of the top of the levee (I think), and so things were "ok."  So, the current levee's hight would remain the same, but would be moved around a little to fit either plan.  The Army Corps of Engineers controls the levee height/structure and whatever development occurs to the park must comply to their standards.  The Corps is really involved in the levee decisions.

[dangerboy]

^ Right, it would be OK based on the 1993 flood.  In any flood situation the harbor and much of the steps down to the river would be under water.  It's pretty much impossible to do any kind of permanent building on the actual waters' edge since the river level regularly varies by as much as 20 feet.  So the idea is something like the steps and harbor that are useable at normal levels and can be submerged without much damage during high water.

The location of the retail and housing uses aren't decided, it's  just a concept to show the relative proportions of each.  The only thing certain is that the commercial would be on the east end next to I-35.  The density would be 3-4 story buildings, possbily up to 6, containing 1200 units of residential.

[DaveKCMO]

I also wonder about potential conflicts between the "concert/public venue" portion of the park and the townhomes.  If anything i'd try to keep the more public/trafficked part of the park near the retail....

one of the slides shows the "green buffer" and water features between the residential development and the park. from the way civitas explained it, they were aware of potential conflicts when designing solutions. sloping the park toward the river should also help with that (it's perfectly flat now, so nothing to direct sound/noise away).

[Quay Girl]

Ahh.. Ampitheatre on the waterfront with the sweet smell of shit wafting over from the Poop Plant across the river. It's bad enough that I live it every time I open my windows..

[voltopt]

Poop Plant!