Ward Parkway Mall just sighed up

[trailerkid]

It's also within 2 miles of some of the poorest people in the City.

Is there any inch of the city south of the river where this isn't true?

[brewcrew1000]

Knob Town and Martin City?

[mgsports]

Dillards and Parking Garage to be torn down start on 6-26 and making way fro new Stuff cna't get new stuff with existing floor plan.

[mudjack]

Dillards and Parking Garage to be torn down start on 6-26 and making way fro new Stuff cna't get new stuff with existing floor plan.

June 26? Why the long delay?

[mudjack]

Dillards and Parking Garage to be torn down start on 6-26 and making way fro new Stuff cna't get new stuff with existing floor plan.

June 26? Why the long delay?

[aknowledgeableperson]

Demo has started.

[mgsports]

But no Places yet to fill new spaces.

[mudjack]

But it looks like we are getting surface parking and pad sites!

Yay!

[mgsports]

It will either be one big store or small or medium ones from the KC Business Journal story.

[KCMax]

AMC Ward Parkway slated for $3 million upgrade

[mistervinix]

I love how the article leaves the strong impression that the multiplex has been in the mall for 50 years - which is not remotely accurate. The current 14-screen theater was begun in 1992, if memory serves. It was originally 12 screens, then they added 6 tiny auditoriums on the lower level. Finally the two stadium seating houses were built behind the ticket booth (and the 6 smaller ones were shuttered). Anyway, an update was long overdue. I know people who will drive right past the complex and go on out to the AMC in Leawood because Ward Parkway had become so dated.

[bobbyhawks]

I love how the article leaves the strong impression that the multiplex has been in the mall for 50 years - which is not remotely accurate. The current 14-screen theater was begun in 1992, if memory serves. It was originally 12 screens, then they added 6 tiny auditoriums on the lower level. Finally the two stadium seating houses were built behind the ticket booth (and the 6 smaller ones were shuttered). Anyway, an update was long overdue. I know people who will drive right past the complex and go on out to the AMC in Leawood because Ward Parkway had become so dated.

It is amazing how fast that happens in the movie theater industry and to malls (becoming outdated). I remember when it first opened, the Ward Parkway 12 was probably the best theater in the city outside of Glenwood, at least for a kid. I spent a lot of time between there, Aladdin's Castle, Mr. Bulky's, and Winstead's. Town Center and at least two other theaters around 119th and Metcalf supplanted it quickly, and only Town Center survived out of those. My guess is that the announcement was rushed to quell negative thoughts about AMC not caring about KCMO, but it sounds like upgrades were indeed needed.

[KCMax]

I remember that movieplex at 119th and Metcalf being a huge hangout in the mid-90s and was state of the art. I think its been a gym for the last decade.

[KCMax]

Opposition to Ward Parkway AMC getting a liquor license?

http://www.tonyskansascity.com/2011/12/ ... ition.html

[mistervinix]

Opposition to Ward Parkway AMC getting a liquor license?

http://www.tonyskansascity.com/2011/12/ ... ition.html

Must mean they're wanting to convert part of the complex to a Fork & Screen operation, like at the Main Street and Olathe.

[aknowledgeableperson]

What opposition? The article is mostly a form letter that goes out.

[longviewmo]

The Ward Parkway AMC is already well under renovation. They're removing a lot of the seats in each theater and replacing them with motorized recliners (and about half the entire theater is closed right now for renovation). There's digital signage outside of every theater, and they have three of those Coke Freestyle machines that seem to be such a big deal.

I'd say it looks like the entire place is turning into one of those "Fork and Screen" operations.

[GRID]

The Ward Parkway AMC is already well under renovation. They're removing a lot of the seats in each theater and replacing them with motorized recliners (and about half the entire theater is closed right now for renovation). There's digital signage outside of every theater, and they have three of those Coke Freestyle machines that seem to be such a big deal.

I'd say it looks like the entire place is turning into one of those "Fork and Screen" operations.

Good to see, seems like Ward Parkway has finally turned a corner. I never understood why it struggled in the first place with the demographics and shear population numbers that surround it.

[chrizow]

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/20/33 ... sault.html

[KCMax]

I think that Target shooting was bad PR and contributed to the notion that south JoCoers shouldn't go there because its KCMO (the horror!)

But we go there all the time now and it does appear to do much better than pre-Trader Joe's although an overwhelming amount of the traffic is for Target or Trader Joe's.

I still think its one of the weirder layouts for a mall I've seen. Its almost not really a mall, but more a strip mall. It seems very small when it is not - for better or for worse.