Re: 18th and Vine
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:27 pm
Looks like they've already strategically demolished the building next door.
Yes. That was the Leona Pouncey building that was previously demolished.longviewmo wrote:Looks like they've already strategically demolished the building next door.
FangKC wrote:The former Leona Pouncey law office near 18th and Paseo has been demolished. It was the two-story building near the corner. The corner building remains.
It was listed on Preserve Missouri's 2012 Most-Endangered Historic Buildings List.
http://preservemo.wordpress.com/most-endangered/
The Pouncey Building – Kansas City, Jackson County
The Pouncey Building is a 1909 2-story brick commercial building in the heart of Kansas City’s 18th and Vine Jazz District. This is one of the few remaining original office buildings in the district and is significant in its association with the social history of the district in that it was the office of the city’s first African American female lawyer, Leona Pouncey Thurman, who moved her office to this building in 1955. Missouri Preservation has been made aware that the City of Kansas City intends to move forward with demolition in anticipation of the City hosting the All Star baseball game in July 2012. The building is on the main strip of the Jazz District and in close proximity to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. It is currently on the dangerous building list. Although on the National Register of Historic Places and subject to Section 106 review, it is feared that the City desires to “fast track” the demolition as they are concerned about codes and safety, and the image of blight in the City. Listing on Missouri’s Most Endangered Historic Places will hopefully bring additional interest and awareness to the building to find a buyer who can rehab the building, as there has been interest in the past and the building is currently for sale.
Imagine if the city bought up a bunch of land, gave it away and charged nothing for permits. But development must start within 6 months to get the deal and you're competing for it. The project that produces the most tax return gets the land.DaveKCMO wrote:this district is still the victim of decades-old planning principles.
If they're worried about overflow from the baseball complex then they should allow on-street parking along the Paseo. Currently no parking is allowed except for Sundays (on the southbound side, at least).TheBigChuckbowski wrote:I only watched the meeting with Cleave for a short time. But, it seemed like his rationale for the parking was that people coming for the new baseball complex would park there and walk through the district and increase its foot traffic.
I seriously doubt overflow parking would ever get that far away and people will be going to the district any way to grab lunch or dinner before/after/in between games. The parking is stupid and pointless.
Look at how many suburban churches rival walmart for their parking lot size, sitting empty 90% of the week.Eon Blue wrote:speaking of which, doesn't Sunday-only parking count as a subsidy for that church?
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This includes $3.9 million for new retail shops, more than $5 million to knock down dilapidated buildings and replace them with new development and parking, another $1.1 million for a surface parking lot, and nearly $3 million for a new headquarters for Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey and a Boone Theater courtyard.
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This is simply hyperbole from Cleaver. Bourbon Street and Beale Street are both arguably more famous urban districts to tourists and Americans. Both are more fully-developed districts that already draw a lot more tourism and visitors, and function as vibrant retail and entertainment districts. They are also both more authentic in that they have functioning retail and other businesses along them, as well as serve more fully as historic districts. What I mean is that most of the buildings that house the businesses are historic structures. Those cities didn't tear down most of the historic building stock to create the entertainment districts....
At a time when Kansas City has difficulty finding money for other priorities, such as demolishing the vacant, ramshackle houses that pockmark Kansas City's East Side, $18 million is an extraordinary request. And it leads to some extraordinary claims from Cleaver, such as 18th & Vine being one of the three most recognizable corridors in the United States, along with Broadway in New York City and Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Fans of Chicago's Magnificent Mile, New Orleans' Bourbon Street and Memphis' Beale Street might take exception to that assertion.
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The other thing I find curious is that Cleaver and Reed seem to be at odds with some of the neighborhood stakeholders in their plans. It appears that some stakeholders want to preserve the buildings that are there. The Jazz District Redevelopment Corporation doesn't appear as preservation-minded....
Anita Dixon is the executive director of the Mutual Musicians Foundation, an organization that has its roots in Kansas City's jazz heyday of the 1920s, when 18th & Vine was about as far south and as far west as blacks were allowed to travel in the city. She told The Pitch that MMF and other 18th & Vine interests hawd been discussing ideas for the district over the last three months. They were surprised to learn that the city had other thoughts.
"I thought yesterday [last Wednesday] was our opportunity, until I got talked out of it by my 3rd District councilman," Dixon said. "Our discussions were shaping up to turn the area into a couple of heritage districts to be recognized internationally, to preserve what was left."
Preservation is another issue that may complicate future plans for 18th & Vine. Reed and Cleaver's $18 million request contemplates the demolition of four buildings, along with the Armory Building at 18th Street and Highland.
Among those structures are the old Black Chamber of Commerce headquarters and remnants of buildings once housing the old Eblon Theater and the Cherry Blossom jazz club. City officials say they want to preserve the façades of those buildings, if possible.
But preservationists are wary of the city's promises. In 2006, the city reached an agreement with the Jazz District Redevelopment Corporation and the state of Missouri, and pledged to save and restore many historic buildings at 18th & Vine.
"I would say it has been observed more in breach than in its compliance," says Greg Allen, president of the Historic Kansas City Foundation. He cites the demolition of the Leona Pouncey Thurman Law Office Building at 1505 East 18th Street, named after Kansas City's first black female lawyer, as an example.
Preservationists may have found a friend in Katheryn Shields, the newly elected 4th District council member. Shields told Reed and Cleaver that she expects future 18th & Vine plans to preserve historic buildings.
"I will expect that which can be saved will be saved," she said at the January 6 meeting.
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James also touted the city's partnership with ArtsTech and KC NoVA as well as the upcoming Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in the 18th and Vine District. Though he had harder words for a recently passed $18 million redevelopment plan for the historic jazz site.
"If you're going to ask for an $18 million investment, I want to know what the heck you're doing with it," James said. "And what I saw was basically, 'Come up with the money and we'll figure it out.' Not good enough."