UMKC projects

[UMKCroo]

http://media.www.unews.com/media/storag ... 2852.shtml

Not exactly the new york times, but many of these ideas have been discussed in the past.  The UNEWS has done a decent job of putting them all together.  The housing mentioned will be crucial in turning the campus around, and luckily all of these projects have timelines for completion before 2010.  I particularly like the idea of an arena/convocation center on campus, and the "hotel" mentioned as well.  The hotel, along with some street level retail, could certainly transform the area along with the other shops on 51st and Oak.  With all that said, I like new chancellor Bailey's vision for the future, now if we can only get the name changed back to Kansas City University!!

[DaveKCMO]

convocation = graduation?

i'm assuming the block in question is either 50th or 51st, since those are both consumed by surface lots and commercial structures.

alvin brooks' response is cute.

[catfish1812]

Let me guess... his response is "I'm Al Brooks!!!!"

[KC ROO]

alvin brooks' response is cute.

I chuckled a bit too when I read his response, upon reading it I thought it was Funkhouser.
I think Dr. Baily is doing a great job, and I am really excited for all the projects. I really think the hospital hill projects will be a great addition to that area and for the students there as well. I wonder why they are only putting in softball diamonds and not baseball diamonds in the park though. I still hope the University doesn't turn its back on Troost.

[dangerboy]

Let me guess... his response is "I'm Al Brooks!!!!"

It was, "I'M AL BROOKS, BITCH!"

[carfreekc]

"$60 million for a convocation basketball facility"

Wow, how much money have we poured into the Roos for how many decades in an attempt to get a decent top level college team? Is this worth it? Sure, it would be good to build support to have the games closer to campus...but how much money has been poured down this drain over the years, and what else could the school have done with it?

[knucklehead]

Funkhouser sure sounds like a politician. Can anyone tell me what his "reaction to the plans" means?

---Mark Funkhouser, who is currently teaching at UMKC, said he has tried for the last 10 or 15 years to foster a deeper, stronger relationship between city government and UMKC.

"The overriding concern for me is quality of life," Funkhouser said. "I want the residents to be happy and feel informed and engaged in public policy that is going to directly impact their lives."

He didn't actually say a dam thing. Talk about lack of transparancy. The guy is clear as a brick. The ironic thing is he says he wants people to "feel informed" but then gives a nonanswer.

[UMKCroo]

"$60 million for a convocation basketball facility"

Wow, how much money have we poured into the Roos for how many decades in an attempt to get a decent top level college team?

UMMM...seriously...little to none.  UMKC is a  shitty mid-major for a reason they have no money, no scholorships, no home, no support.  The closest thing they have to home kicks them out annually in order to "wine and dine" the cheapos from wal-mart.  A facility like this would be great for everyone on the campus no just the b-ball team.  Maybe for my next graduation ceremony everyone wont have to embarrassingly pack into a gym.     

[WSPanic]

Not that I attend more than 1 or 2 games a year, but I love seeing the Roos at the Muni. It's a beautiful, historic facility that I enjoy being able to see Division I basketball in. Yeah, the atmosphere can suck, but they serve beer. Not going to happen at an on-campus facility. Hopefully, if this does happen, they'll still play a few downtown.

I understand those are not good reasons to keep the team at the Muni. I'm just saying they serve beer.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

I'm curious about the status of a some of the projects I heard about when I was attending the school.

I thought they were going to construct a new building for the Conservatory on what is now the soccer field.  I also heard that the entire Rockhill/Volker intersection was going to be rebuild with a traffic circle and some sort of grand entrance to the campus.  There were also talks of creating a sort of "college town" area on Troost between UMKC and Rockhurst.

I'm not sure a basketball arena would be the best thing for Troost.  I would perfer something that would get more regular use, and provide more of a neighborhood feel.  Although, anything would be better than the giant lot behind the chemistry buidling.

[carfreekc]

UMMM...seriously...little to none.  UMKC is a  shitty mid-major for a reason they have no money, no scholorships, no home, no support.       

UMKC is a Division I team. To be that, I am pretty certain that they have to meet scholarship requirements set by the NCAA. Lower divisions would require fewer scholarships--and being in Division I even requires that the school have a certain number of sports teams period, not just basketball, from what I've read.

They've been Division I since the late 80s, so we're going on 20 years of a weak program. Have the costs been worth it? I say probably not. As an alum, I think it's high time the school seriously questions its Division I status and looks at switching to a different one where they could be more competitive. In 1998, the Star looked at the program and reported that the school lost money on it the whole time: "UMKC loses more than $1 million on sports every year, giving the bill to taxpayers and students - who seldom go to games." (Jan. 11, 1998)

I haven't seen a more current accounting of the athletic program costs, esp. in light of rising tuition over the years, but I think that needs to be part of any discussion of building $60 million facilities that might be used primarily for basketball and graduation a couple of times a year. Maybe it could be used for other events in the community too, some of which could bring in rental income. Dunno. But there should be a more critical discussion of it, unless I've missed it.

I'm curious about the status of a some of the projects I heard about when I was attending the school.

I thought they were going to construct a new building for the Conservatory on what is now the soccer field.

I remember hearing that about the Conservatory, too. Not sure what's up with that. Will have to go check U-News archives at some point...

Not that I attend more than 1 or 2 games a year, but I love seeing the Roos at the Muni. It's a beautiful, historic facility that I enjoy being able to see Division I basketball in.

Me too. I understand why it would be better to have on campus--but I do love Municipal! And it's historic for college basketball, too.

[KCTigerFan]

Interesting read. Thanks for posting. 

I love the fact that they are finally working to expand Miller Nichols and the Student Union building. 

Also, the idea of a 6-8K multi-use arena along Troost is great.  I am sure that with all of the great sports architects we have in KC they could design a great facility that would interact with Troost and the campus well.  They should then build structured parking on the lot west of the sciences building with some ground level retail/offices.  The arena would be a great place to host high school events, concerts et cetera in addition to UMKC sports. 

Gonzaga has a great facility that opened in 2004 at a cost of $25MM...  Good street level feel and lots of glass.

[UMKCroo]

UMKC is a Division I team. To be that, I am pretty certain that they have to meet scholarship requirements set by the NCAA. Lower divisions would require fewer scholarships--and being in Division I even requires that the school have a certain number of sports teams period, not just basketball, from what I've read.

They've been Division I since the late 80s, so we're going on 20 years of a weak program. Have the costs been worth it? I say probably not. As an alum, I think it's high time the school seriously questions its Division I status and looks at switching to a different one where they could be more competitive. In 1998, the Star looked at the program and reported that the school lost money on it the whole time: "UMKC loses more than $1 million on sports every year, giving the bill to taxpayers and students - who seldom go to games." (Jan. 11, 1998)

There are 19 Division I sports at UMKC, and while there are maximums set for scholorships in each sport, as I understand it, all sports at UMKC dont have the funding to reach them.  And, suppossing we do switch divisions I dont think costs are going to decrease, they may actually initially increase due to administrative and regulatory measures.  Anyway I think the issue is moot because what Ive heard from Chancellor Bailey is that he is committed to having Division I sports at UMKC.

UMKC has been traditionally "weak" (although the soccer program has seen some success making several tournament appearances), all it will take is one b-ball tournament bid to turn the program around and give it the exposure it needs.  The new athletic director Tim Hall is quite experienced in turning around mid-major programs and is already stiring things up firing Coach Z yesterday.

Also, there was no mention of having the arena subsidized by students or taxpayers, in fact almost all of the projects with the exception of the student union, will be on "other peoples dimes" as Bailey said.  AD Hall is very well versed in fundraising, and has already began discussing a private capital campaign to finance the arena, as well as other athletic programs.

My point is that with the right person in charge i.e. Hall, Division I sports can be great for the school and the City both financially and socially.  It looks like both the school and AP are turning around with new leadership, but we shall see.  Im sure they were saying that too when you were at UMKC carfree. 

[KC ROO]

In the Kansas City Star today, there is an interactive map on the KC Star website

$350 MILLION, 3 YEARS |UMKC plans major campus facelift
Initial project would expand or add 11 facilities.
By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS and KEVIN MURPHY
The Kansas City Star

DAVID EULITT | The Kansas City Star
UMKC wants to modernize its urban campus southeast of the Plaza by razing the Twin Oaks buildings (left) and adding to the modern student housing shown at right.
The building plan for UMKC | interactive graphic
University of Missouri - Kansas City
Call it Extreme Makeover: University Edition.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City hopes to transform itself into a nationally recognized urban institution by launching more than $350 million in campus construction projects over the next three years.

The proposed building boom consists of 11 new or expanded facilities for the Volker and Hospital Hill campuses. It would be the largest construction project in the shortest time frame in the history of UMKC, said Bob Simmons, director of campus facilities.

More student housing, new convocation and athletic facilities, an expanded library and a new student union are designed to boost enrollment and entice more students to live on campus. A hotel and conference center, retail development on the east and west sides of campus, new Hospital Hill quarters for the pharmacy and nursing programs and a new central air-conditioning plant for the Volker campus also are part of the plan.

Beyond the three-year plan, the university envisions building more than $220 million in additional facilities within seven years. Those are a conference and wellness center with recreation and dining facilities, professional office space, and clinical and research facilities — all on the Hospital Hill campus — and parking and a new conservatory of music and dance on the Volker campus.

“The plan is exactly what UMKC needs for people to recognize it as a gem in this community,” said Hugh Zimmer, a member of the UMKC Board of Trustees. “This plan is doable. It is responsive to what was outlined for UMKC by the Blue Ribbon Task Force Report.”

That 2005 report, “Time to Get It Right,” was aimed at strengthening higher education in the Kansas City area and called for increasing investment in life-science research.

Some UMKC students on Wednesday welcomed news of the proposed projects, while others questioned how they would be funded and whether money would be better spent upgrading classrooms.

UMKC Chancellor Guy Bailey expects developers, not taxpayers, to foot the bulk of the bill for the three-year plan. But some student fees will help pay for it. Five of the 11 projects would involve negotiating innovative arrangements with developers, who would lease university land and build and manage the facilities. The university would have the option to buy the facilities when the long-term leases expire. Lease payments from developers would help pay for ongoing construction.

The other six projects would be paid for through revenue bonds, private donations, student fees and state funds.

Financing has not yet been determined for projects in the seven-year plan.

Some of the projects still need approval from the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

Getting more students to campus

A first step toward reaching the university’s potential, UMKC administrators say, is turning the mostly commuter campus into one with more students living on campus.

The two campuses now have 12,174 students. Since 2000, the number of on-campus students has increased from 330 to 850. Bailey expects that number to grow to about 1,500 by 2010 once new student housing is completed.

Bailey told University of Missouri curators last November that increasing UMKC enrollment by 25 percent in the next five years was his top priority.

“The most important projects for us are student housing and things that would engage students on campus, things that will enhance the quality of campus life,” Bailey said. “This all has to do with improving and enhancing student success. The most successful students are those who are engaged on campus.”

Several of the projects, such as the library expansion, a new student union and some of the housing, already were included in the university’s five-year master plan announced in 2005, before Bailey took over as chancellor in December 2005.

“What I am trying to do here is fast-forward these projects and find some innovative ways to finance them,” Bailey said. “Time is really the enemy, though, because the longer things drag out, the harder it is to get these things done.”

Bailey presented his plan to the UMKC Board of Trustees last week.

“The trustees are a thousand percent in support of Chancellor Bailey and his vision for the university,” said Leo Morton, chairman of the board. “We need to find as many ways as possible for the community to help the university and for the university to help itself,” said Morton, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Aquila.

“I don’t think the university can rely on the state,” he said. “The state portion of the money going to the university is shrinking. We have to be prepared to meet the needs of the university.”

The projects in the three-year plan:

•A housing complex for 514 students with a retail component.

This first project at 50th and Oak streets is scheduled to open in fall 2008 and would replace the Twin Oaks towers now being demolished. Place Property LLC of Atlanta will build and manage the complex.

•A hotel and conference center on the west side of Oak Street, just south of the Twin Oaks apartments.

•Housing for 250 students at 25th Street and Troost Avenue for health-care programs on Hospital Hill.

•A 340-student dorm on Oak Street, on the north end of the Twin Oaks property, to replace the Cherry Street residence hall.

Construction would start once the Oak Street West apartments are completed.

•A development featuring apartments over retail businesses on Troost Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets.

• Expansion of the Miller-Nichols Library to include collection and study space, academic support centers for students, classrooms and a technology center.

•A new student union west of the library.

•A new nursing and pharmacy building on Hospital Hill.

•A convocation center/basketball arena on the northeast corner of Troost Avenue and Volker Boulevard.

•Softball fields at Woodland Avenue and Swope Parkway in Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

•A new chiller plant to provide air-conditioning on the Volker campus.

Student reaction

Audrey Bernardi, a Kansas City senior who lives off-campus, applauded the plan for more student housing. She said many students in older dorm rooms on Cherry Street want to move and that there would be big demand for new space.

Brittany Butler, a freshman from St. Louis, said more housing would draw more students from beyond Kansas City, giving the school better geographic diversity. More students on campus also could draw more events, Butler said.

“More things would come to us instead of us going to them,” she said.

Students liked the idea of a new student union.

“It sounds pretty cool,” said Randy Greene, a freshman from St. Louis. “There are not a lot of things there now. There’s no reason to go there and hang out.”

Freshman Carl Carney of Kansas City said he supports more recreation in the union. But he would be concerned if student fees or tuition are raised to pay for the improvements.

“They need to find another way to fund it,” Carney said.

Next month, students are scheduled to vote on whether fees should be raised to help pay for the new union.

Senior Karen Igla of Overland Park said more recreation should be a low priority on a campus that has problems providing basic equipment.

“Recreation can be had anywhere,” Igla said. “The union could use some updating, most definitely. I think it’s more pathetic that you go into a classroom and you have desks that wobble and inadequate seating. Desks squeak so badly you can hardly hear each other.”

Tyler Antrup, a Kansas City sophomore and architectural student, said more housing is needed but he doesn’t like that it would be built and managed by a private developer.

Residents and business owners in the Rockhill Crest Neighborhood Association which includes single-family homes on the university’s Troost development site said they support UMKC’s building plans but are concerned they might not happen.

About 10 years ago the university threatened to acquire homes along Rockhill Road for a parking lot. Residents launched a protest campaign, and that plan was quashed.

“If they tear something down, we just want to see them have something go in there,” said Larry Kirkwood, president of the neighborhood association. Kirkwood said residents support development along Troost and removing the stigma of it being a racial dividing line. But he doesn’t want to see more bars open as part of the development.

On the west side of the university, business owners in the strip of shops at 51st and Oak streets say they, too, favor the university’s construction plans.

“I am all for growth and expansion of UMKC; I just want them to keep it within their property,” said Jason Pryor, who owns Pizza 51. “We don’t want to see them grow at the expense of neighborhoods and businesses.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three-year plan

A few of the highlights of the UMKC plan with the estimated cost. For more details, see Page A4.

Miller Nichols Library expansion

$70 million

Convocation/basketball facility

$60 million

Apartment housing for students

$75 million

New student union

$40-46 million

Hotel and conference center

$40 million


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UMKC construction plans

In the next three years:


Projects Cost  Method of Financing
Miller Nichols Library expansion:  $70 million UMKC $200 million capital campaign 
New student union $40-46 million Revenue bonds, student fees and capital campaign
Pharmacy and nursing building on Hospital Hill $14 million Proposed sale of Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority assets 
Apartments for up to 250 students on Hospital Hill $20 million Developer leases UMKC land, builds and manages the apartments
Dormitory for 340 students on Oak Street. to replace Cherry Street Residence Hall $20 million Developer leases UMKC land, builds and manages the dorm, or revenue bonds may be issued, then paid off using student housing fees 
Oak Street West apartments for 514 students and retail complex $55 million Developer leases UMKC land, builds and manages the complex
6,000- to 8,000-seat convocation/basketball facility $60 million Revenue bonds, private donations, concession and event fees 
Softball fields $2 million Private donations
New chiller plant $20 million Bond issue, paid off with revenue from campus-wide energy saving measures
Hotel and conference center on Oak Street $40 million  Developer leases UMKC land, builds and manages the complex
Apartment/retail development on Troost Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets  $10 million  Developer leases UMKC land, builds and manages the apartments and retail space
Total: $351-$357 million 

In the next seven years:


Projects Cost
Conference and wellness center on Hospital Hill $10 million*
Health Science Building for research phase II on Hospital Hill $70 million *
Clinical research and professional office building on Hospital Hill $50 million *
Parking structure on Oak Street on the Volker campus $25.5 million*
Parking structure on Troost Avenue on the Volker campus $25.5 million*

* How these projects will be funded has not been determined.

Source: University of Missouri-Kansas City

[scooterj]

From the flash presentation on the Star's web site it looks like they plan to tear down Cockefair Hall and replace it with several new buildings.  UMKCRoo, any word on why Cockefair is going away?  Other than Twin Oaks that building is where I spent most of my time at UMKC.  Soon there will be almost nothing left of my days on that campus.

[KCTigerFan]

I thought that too, but then looked at it again.  It looks like Cockefair may stay and become part of that areas new "academic quad."  If it is structurally sound they should keep it and add to it and then build the companion buildings to match the style.  It would be a shame to demolish that building. 

It is relatively easy to do, if you look at the MU campus they have done some fantastic renovation and additions to the stone and brick buildings.  The feel of a campus is very important.  I am glad that planners are finally realizing that after so many decades of bad building design and demolition on college campuses. 
http://www.cf.missouri.edu/masterplan/p ... raddn.html

[knucklehead]

My suggestion is they should take the money for the new basketball arena/convocation center and use it instead to increase the basketball coach salary to at least 500 K per year and to build a nice practice facility and an "athletic dorm" for the players with a posh weight room, plasma TV's, hot tubs and a nice swiming pool.

A winning team will do more for basketball attendance than a new arena would and would be cheaper.

[KansasCityChiefs]

Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but is there a reason why UMKC doesn't have a Football team?

[KC ROO]

Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but is there a reason why UMKC doesn't have a Football team?

From my understanding, being a division one school, equal money has to be spent on mens and womens sports, and considering the cost of a football team the school would not be able to afford to spend the same amount on womens sports as well. I could be wrong though.

[KCMax]

Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but is there a reason why UMKC doesn't have a Football team?

UMKC was an NAIA school just 20 years ago. They moved to NCAA Division I-A in an effort to replace the Kings. They had to majorly increase their budget just to get to Div I-A, and still struggle to maintain an adequate budget for the few sports they have. Football is simply a cost prohibitive sport to field a team in.