P&L District: 14th & Walnut Site Proposal

[KansasCityCraka]

[moderne]

Actually that blank wall on the P&L has a very monumental sculptural quality, like a Monument Valley monolith, most of its is faced in limestone, and the worst is brick.  They need to do a cosmetic job on these even if they are temporarily in view until something goes in on the south.  If not they can put gates on Walnut and call it the city defensive wall.

[Gladstoner]

They could bring back the basketball mural.

[voltopt]

exactly - the basketball mural was a perfect use of a party wall.

[moderne]

  We have had a moat around downtown for forty years now we have the wall behind it.  We can defend ourselves from the barbarian hordes from JOCO.

[scooterj]

Steel!

[DaveKCMO]

Steel!

foto!

[kard]

Webcam shows the roof going on already.  Sheesh!

[Long]

   We have had a moat around downtown for forty years now we have the wall behind it.  We can defend ourselves from the barbarian hordes from JOCO.

[Pork Chop]

Now just imagine that picture with two large condo towers in front of those walls...

[ComandanteCero]

As others have said, those walls look like prime mural walls.  They should hold a competition, and commission a recognized muralist to put something cool there. 

[Highlander]

As others have said, those walls look like prime mural walls.  They should hold a competition, and commission a recognized muralist to put something cool there. 

I just hope the Condos are not too far behind.  Murals would have to be really tasteful and well done to make it the appropriate entrance into KC's downtown.  Perhaps Cordish already has a plan to soften the apperarance....I really doubt if they would have designed an enormous blank south-facing wall as an entrance into their 100's of million dollar investment. 

One thing I do not like about the walls are that they cut out the view of the entire bottom of downtown, in a very linear way, from that vantage point (of course, that may just be the affect of the wide angle).  I guess, that is what you are going to get from a planned development rather than individual buildings of different heights separated by alleyways. 

[Long]

One thing I do not like about the walls are that they cut out the view of the entire bottom of downtown, in a very linear way, from that vantage point (of course, that may just be the affect of the wide angle).  I guess, that is what you are going to get from a planned development rather than individual buildings of different heights separated by alleyways. 

Not sure I understand this comment-- from this vantage point, you will see buildings in the foreground, which cuts off the view to buildings in the background.  This wall, or walls of varying heights if they were separate buildings, would still be the back walls with the service entrance and the dumpster in full view until something comes along to build on the south half of the block.  They could be concrete, brick, stone, or some combination of materials and they would still be the back wall.

I guess the ideal solution, in lieu of the towers going in today, would have been to build low-rise development facing Truman Road with structure in place to build towers (whether they be the planned condo towers or some other use) right on top.  Unfortunately I-670 isn't Brush Creek so I doubt Truman Road will be the next Ward Parkway, so retail on Truman might have had a harder time than retail "contained within" the district.

You all might notice the back of the Empire Theater has been exposed in this same manner for years.  It's a brick wall, so maybe that makes it a little more cool and interesting, but it's still not what you want to see at the "entrance" to downtown.

[Long]

If Cordish had plans to "soften" the murals, they wouldn't have cut off the view in the renderings right before you see it.

[lock+load]

So there will be no rear access to the buildings?  Doesn't sound like much of an alley to me.

And, yes, a brick wall looks much better than a plain concrete wall.

[Highlander]

Not sure I understand this comment-- from this vantage point, you will see buildings in the foreground, which cuts off the view to buildings in the background.  This wall, or walls of varying heights if they were separate buildings, would still be the back walls with the service entrance and the dumpster in full view until something comes along to build on the south half of the block.  They could be concrete, brick, stone, or some combination of materials and they would still be the back wall.

The linear nature of the wall's crest yields a very unnatural feel to the skyline from that vantage point.  At least individual buildings would have small windows into downtown down alleys and the roof crests would not be at the same elevation all the way across one's view making the development appear more blended into the rest of downtown.  Having said all that, its only going to be that way close up, further away, the perspective is such that you can more easily see over the south end of the development into downtown. 

[LenexatoKCMO]

I am pretty sure that there is some serious distortion going on in that photo.  Those walls are in reality about two stories tall and don't really block the view of anything - yet they appear about five stories tall and dominate the landscape in the photo.

[Highlander]

I am pretty sure that there is some serious distortion going on in that photo.  Those walls are in reality about two stories tall and don't really block the view of anything - yet they appear about five stories tall and dominate the landscape in the photo.

Yea, because the photographer is standing on the south loop bridge only 1.5 blocks away and the walls look much further away than that.

[moderne]

  There does not seem to be much of an alleyway function, there is only one door opening on each wall, instead of the multiple doors one would expect for multiple businesses.

[LenexatoKCMO]

   There does not seem to be much of an alleyway function, there is only one door opening on each wall, instead of the multiple doors one would expect for multiple businesses.

There are certainly more functions to an alley than just deliveries.  Drunken bar goers need a place to pee when the line for the ladies room gets too long and where else do you expect the college kids to buy their drugs when they come downtown for a good time.