Union Station Powerhouse Building

[KCTigerFan]

Anyone know what the revised timeline is for the Ballet to start on the Bolendar facility at the Powerhouse?  Originally it was going to open by Spring of 2008. 

[advocrat]

Anyone know what the revised timeline is for the Ballet to start on the Bolendar facility at the Powerhouse?  Originally it was going to open by Spring of 2008. 

They're still hoping to occupy in 2008, probably Fall.

[peterbillionaire]

They still have not started construction.

[DaveKCMO]

anyone know what the hold up is here?

[FangKC]

They're not done stretching. 

[KCTigerFan]

I hear they are searching for taller ballerinas.  &&&

- Steven Wright

[peterbillionaire]

anyone know what the hold up is here?

I have a suspicion about this project, that it was dropped on the ballet and they felt that they had to go along with it. I think that they would have preferred a purpose-built building next to the new performing arts center, which was the original plan.

The power house is going to require huge buckets of cash to bring back to life, reconfigure and operate. (See pictures taken inside last year.)  It was presented publicly as cheaper than an all-new building, which I thought was unlikely. Maybe once all of the construction bids were in, it became too expensive, or the building turned out to be unworkable. 

[KC0KEK]

Cool pix. The KC Urbex site used to have a lot of photos from you and others, but apparently they're no longer available. I keep getting an error message when I click on the Gallery link.

[KCFutbol]

I have a suspicion about this project, that it was dropped on the ballet and they felt that they had to go along with it. I think that they would have preferred a purpose-built building next to the new performing arts center, which was the original plan.

The power house is going to require huge buckets of cash to bring back to life, reconfigure and operate. (See pictures taken inside last year.)  It was presented publicly as cheaper than an all-new building, which I thought was unlikely. Maybe once all of the construction bids were in, it became too expensive, or the building turned out to be unworkable. 

For the original project they had a signature architect dumped on them, Moshe Safde. They designed a building the Ballet couldn't afford.

Now it looks like a remodel of the power house could cost more than the stand alone building would have.

[FangKC]

A lot of the cost depends on the level of renovation. If they cover all the walls with new surfaces, then it will cost a lot.  However, if they leave it raw, and just spend the money on rebuilding the floor surfaces and adding offices and dressing rooms, fix the roof, and replace the windows and heating/cooling/plumbing, then it could cost less.    It's a historic building which means that federal and state historic tax credits could offset a large majority of cost. Up to 45 percent.