Nelson Atkins - Moving Forward

[GRID]

I posted this elsewhere, but I'll re post it here. Looks like my opinion is pretty similar to those on this forum:

I don't know. I can see some improvements to Thies Park and Brush Creek sure and if the Nelson wants to do something with that area, that's fine, but this is the type of grand proposal that KC needs for it's riverfronts and parks system.

I certainly wouldn't agree with any demolition of existing structures only to be replaced with even more "green space". KC has lots of green space, it just doesn't have the recreational infrastructure to put it to good use.

The Nelson has plenty of room to do some pretty cool stuff without tearing into homes and buildings in the surrounding area. Start with beautifying 47th Street and making that a more attractive and inviting connection between the Nelson and the Plaza. With Volker now carrying most commuters to the Plaza from the east, 47th could use a road diet and lanes could be replaced with bike lanes, greenways etc plus wider sidewalks, nicer street lighting, landscaping and signage to encourage more people to walk and bike in that area. The Nelson is so close to the Plaza, yet you see very few people walking between the two areas.

[flyingember]

I certainly wouldn't agree with any demolition of existing structures only to be replaced with even more "green space". KC has lots of green space, it just doesn't have the recreational infrastructure to put it to good use.

this is a good point. there's a TON of parks needing basic infrastructure across the city.

go to South Lake Park in Overland Park. restrooms, playground, trail, fishing, basketball all in a small place. it's quite well done as far as a park goes.

meanwhile go to Englewood Park. No restrooms is the thing that stands out. the lake isn't anywhere close to the same facilities as OP put in. the parking lots are way less maintained. the picnic areas are unimproved. there's no formal trail despite being the perfect place to put one, the park is laid out that one could connect into the neighborhood to the east

[rxlexi]

The Nelson is so close to the Plaza, yet you see very few people walking between the two areas.

Yep, a reimagining of 47th shouldn't be that difficult and is way past due. It should be a well-used and vibrant connection.

[pash]

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[chaglang]

This looks like an intriguing concept. I'm happy to see that somebody's thinking about how to make a good museum even better.

And I like the emphasis on improving the connections between the Nelson and everything nearby. But like many of you, I think the planners have missed the obvious, boring solution to the obvious, boring problem: fix the existing streets that are so uninviting that nobody wants to walk along them. Then start in on the snazzy stuff.

Exactly.

The pedestrian bridges are a little ridiculous. The one on Cleaver looks like it would be 30' from the existing crosswalk. The one on Volker kind of ignores that Volker is a very crappy street to be a pedestrian on. I'm also not sure what they're connecting to on the north side of Brush Creek. UMKC? Maybe if they were some sort of sculpture that made a statement about pedestrian bridges...

Parks may be the easiest way to get the boulevard moved. They tend not to be very stringent in approving development that falls under their purview.

[DaveKCMO]

http://kcur.org/post/one-city-many-art- ... ct-context

also contains a nice history of the crossroads and how this new district would compare.

[chaglang]

Went to the Weiss/Manfredi lecture at NAMA last night. They do very very thoughtful, sophisticated work. It was a little strange because they never really discussed the Arts District. I suspect it's because there's going to be a big community charrette process, but that could be wrong.

[rxlexi]

Damn! This reminds me that I missed the presentation at the Nelson re: the cultural district, art and public space, etc. last night.

Had totally planned to walk over and had the night free. When will we get to see some plans/renderings of what the NA envisions for this thing long-term?

[FangKC]

Details about arts district around Nelson-Atkins Museum emerge

http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-c ... 22427.html

[FangKC]

Streetside: Everyone has an agenda for the Nelson-Atkins’ ambitious improvement agenda

http://tinyurl.com/kqdf68u

[chaglang]

Streetside: Everyone has an agenda for the Nelson-Atkins’ ambitious improvement agenda

http://tinyurl.com/kqdf68u

The Pitch couldn't get through an article about the Westminster Dog Show without taking a swipe at the KC streetcar project.

[FangKC]

You should read the Northeast News. It can't get through one issue without making snide remarks about the streetcar project.

[kboish]

Pitch articles often feel like one Kerouacian train of thought opinion with a dash of Gonzo journalism about whatever the writer came across that day with no editorial direction, forethought, afterthought, journalistic rigor, and credibility.

Which is fun in a novel, but not so much when the authors think they are writing the news. Is that what they think they are doing? I can't tell. This meshing of bloggerdom and journalism confuses me sometimes.

[FangKC]

As for the Nelson’s expansion plans, the foundation is concerned for the fate of a group of houses on 45th Street, just northward across the street from the museum. The loss of those “would destroy the context of an entire neighborhood block.” Also threatened is the onetime Rockhill Tennis Club, or the Kirkwood Mansion, on Rockhill Road, whose history, like that of the Nelson itself, extends to the founding family of The Kansas City Star.

As I’ve written before, the Nelson-Atkins needs to think long and hard about how it wields its power and its dreams. Its laudable vision for a lively and attractive “cultural district” can’t become a Trojan horse for inexcusable and highly avoidable expansion missteps.

http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-c ... 33518.html

[Midtownkid]

Yeah, I don't understand the Nelson's weird plans. Leave the mansions alone. If you are going to build a new hotel...look two blocks away at Main. There is huge empty lot there. Create some new energy on Main!

[slimwhitman]

Yeah, I don't understand the Nelson's weird plans. Leave the mansions alone. If you are going to build a new hotel...look two blocks away at Main. There is huge empty lot there. Create some new energy on Main!

Why not keep the mansions AND make them a hotel? Prototype here in North Adams, MA and part of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art:
http://www.porches.com/about/the_story

They saved these old houses and joined them with a long porch. I have stayed here and it is wonderful...and across the street from the museum. The Nelson mansions would need to be connected a different way, but perhaps with something cool and contemporary on the rear.

[FangKC]

According to the Nelson management, the expansion plan requires demolition of the houses north of the museum to add more office space for the museum--in addition to the proposed hotel. My question is--why didn't they include more office space when they added the Bloch addition? Same can be said for a hotel. Why wasn't it planned for then, and possibly built later on the parking garage north of the original museum building? The garage could have been designed to carry the load of the additional buildings (that might be built in the future), and they could have been placed on the NW corner of the campus. The Nelson certainly has a large enough land parcel to have included those things had they planned for it--on their original plot of land.

I also question why an art museum even requires a hotel to be on-site. There are three hotels just four blocks away, which is easily within walking distance. Plaza Marriott, Holiday Inn, and Extended Stay America--all near 45th and Main. There is also a bed and breakfast inn adjacent to the museum--Southmoreland on the Plaza on E. 46th Street--just two blocks away.

I've plopped the Extended Stay America hotel on the Nelson parcel to show where their additional office space and hotel could have gone had they planned for it when the garage was designed.

[earthling]

wtf

[pash]

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[FangKC]

I still maintain that they should have thought about that before building the Bloch addition--contingency planning. They are in a historic neighborhood with a strong neighborhood association. Any real estate and development attorney could have told them that there might be neighborhood resistance to any changes to the Rockhill Tennis Club--or later demolition of any homes near their campus. The City might not approve their plans.

One might even get resistance from the neighborhood to turn the houses into a connected B'n'B operation, since it would be a commercial reuse of residential.

I worked for many years in public affairs for the largest academic medical center in Manhattan, NYC. Our institution also had expansion needs throughout those years--as did other adjacent medical centers in the neighborhood. When the institution wanted to expand and construct a new building, it was "known" that those plans might not pass muster among the neighborhood groups and city. Thus, there were always contingency plans: Plan A, B, C, etc. When a new building was proposed, years of future growth was incorporated into the structure. Buildings were also designed to be expanded in the future, in case other parcels couldn't be purchased and new buildings constructed there.

It was often a given that the institution might not acquire extra space immediately adjacent to the campus, and that office or clinic space might only be obtained several blocks away.

My office was seven blocks from the main medical center campus.