KCRag Forum

I heard a rumor that a year-round heated driving range may be put in the West Bottoms? I personally think this would be a great addition to the city!
Anyone have details? Or thoughts?

ResoluteKC wrote:I heard a rumor that a year-round heated driving range may be put in the West Bottoms? I personally think this would be a great addition to the city!
Anyone have details? Or thoughts?

Any other confirmations of this? I always thought that such a thing would be great, especially if it could overlook the MO river. A driving range, nice tennis facility, and proper swimming pool (essentially, the country club sports) are all things I feel are missing from the downtown experience.

bobbyhawks wrote: especially if it could overlook the MO river. A driving range, nice tennis facility, and proper swimming pool (essentially, the country club sports) are all things I feel are missing from the downtown experience.

that's going to be hard. you would need to put it on the second or third story to get above the flood wall, though a net will still be needed to stop balls from dropping onto the railroad line. and then they'd need to close Woodsweather and do building tear outs to get enough space

by tennis I assume you mean aside from the courts at Barney Allis Plaza. they were good enough that a professional team used them

and for the pool, here's your hours
http://kcparks.org/facility/tony-aguire ... ty-center/

flyingember wrote:

bobbyhawks wrote: especially if it could overlook the MO river. A driving range, nice tennis facility, and proper swimming pool (essentially, the country club sports) are all things I feel are missing from the downtown experience.

that's going to be hard. you would need to put it on the second or third story to get above the flood wall, though a net will still be needed to stop balls from dropping onto the railroad line. and then they'd need to close Woodsweather and do building tear outs to get enough space

by tennis I assume you mean aside from the courts at Barney Allis Plaza. they were good enough that a professional team used them

and for the pool, here's your hours
http://kcparks.org/facility/tony-aguire ... ty-center/

I live right next to the pool. I'm happy it is there, but it has terrible hours. You can't swim before work on any days if you have regular hours, and it is only open past 5:30 PM on Monday and Wednesday. I could be wrong, but I don't think it is a 50 meter pool, either.

Barney Allis Plaza only puts up the tennis court(s) when an event comes to town, and it is not open to the general public. Just having tennis courts is one thing, but there isn't anything on par with what you would find near the plaza with Woodside and such.

As for the driving range, the bluff overlooking the Missouri may be difficult to pull off, but finding space near downtown shouldn't be. There is plenty of room to do have a great driving range in multiple locations around downtown.

so in other words, you want better access to existing facilities in general. absolutely

flyingember wrote:so in other words, you want better access to existing facilities in general. absolutely

Definitely. We do have some of these things, but I don't think anyone is moving downtown because of the quality of those amenities.

There are some amazing and cheap golf courses very close to downtown. I'd rather play a round than hit balls on a range, so I wonder if there's much demand.

As for tennis courts, where are the closest ones to downtown? It seems there are few, if any.

taxi wrote:As for tennis courts, where are the closest ones to downtown? It seems there are few, if any.

you haven't gone looking. there's a TON of them within 10 minutes of downtown

Penn Valley Park
The Parade
The Concourse
Prospect Plaza Park
Nelson C Crews Square (27th and US 71)
The school district has one south of the Linwood Home Depot
Sheila Kemper Deitrich Park (hospital hill)
2x along Gillham (36th and 39th)
Roanoke Park
Macken Park NKC
Plaza Tennis
along Ward Parkway (just SW of the Plaza)
Swope Parkway at US 71
Loose Park

taxi wrote:There are some amazing and cheap golf courses very close to downtown. I'd rather play a round than hit balls on a range, so I wonder if there's much demand.

As for tennis courts, where are the closest ones to downtown? It seems there are few, if any.

I think there are some in Penn Valley Park, and the apartment complex tied to Crown Center has some. I'm not sure how close the nearest tennis "bubble" would be. Woodside may be the closest facility with locker rooms and such. I don't really consider things on the Plaza to be downtown amenities.

It may be worth splitting out into another thread, but what are the best golf courses near downtown? I need to get back into playing but can't seem to find the time lately, hence why driving ranges are appealing to me. I can't really take off on a weekday to play, and 4.5 to 5+ hours slowly moving through a crowded course on a weekend is also tough. I love Swope Park, but I wouldn't really consider that "very close." From that perspective, anything on the highway is close to downtown.

flyingember wrote:

taxi wrote:As for tennis courts, where are the closest ones to downtown? It seems there are few, if any.

you haven't gone looking.

I have been keeping my eye out and there just aren't many downtown.

BH-
From Columbus Park, I can be on the tee box at Swope in 17 minutes. I consider that pretty close, of course it will be highway as they take up a lot of real estate. Which is why I'm surprised there are no tennis courts in the downtown area. I try to tee off one of the first in the morning and then I can usually get done in 3 hours.

taxi wrote:

flyingember wrote:

taxi wrote:As for tennis courts, where are the closest ones to downtown? It seems there are few, if any.

you haven't gone looking.

I have been keeping my eye out and there just aren't many downtown.

BH-
From Columbus Park, I can be on the tee box at Swope in 17 minutes. I consider that pretty close, of course it will be highway as they take up a lot of real estate. Which is why I'm surprised there are no tennis courts in the downtown area. I try to tee off one of the first in the morning and then I can usually get done in 3 hours.

There aren't many I know of near downtown. I usually go to Prairie Village area to play tennis - either the PV courts or one of the neighborhood courts. They did just repave the courts at 39th/Gillham - and they're really nice. Are the Barney Allis courts public and lit?

I would love to have the West Bottoms driving range - Swope is fine, but it's not as close as the Bottoms. And, I don't generally like driving there from downtown or midtown during rush hour - which is when I like to go hit.

Abundant golf options. Cool city