Discuss items in the urban core outside of Downtown as described above. Everything in the core including the east side (18th & Vine area), Northeast, Plaza, Westport, Brookside, Valentine, Waldo, 39th street, & the entire midtown area.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 7, the Warwick Theater caught fire. Nine firetrucks responded and fought the blaze for several hours containing the fire primarily to the northeast corner of the building’s interior. Damage in that area is extensive, burning all the way from the basement through the roof destroying the MET offices, the entire second-floor costume area housing the extremely valuable collection of all men’s costumes, hats, shoes—all destroyed. All women’s costumes are damaged by smoke and water.
All building doors and nearly all windows plus main floor restrooms and third-floor dressing room, the kitchen and rear lobby area. Air conditioning, electrical, kitchen, and rear lobby have been affected. The fire damaged the public restrooms, destroying the main staircase connecting the basement to the main floor, and reached through the roof to the sky.
Smoke damage continues through the theater and lobby and the loft. The basement has water damage and smoke damage. The fire was stopped before it progressed into the theater performance and Lobby. We rejoice that the beloved theater space is safe!
In addition to structural damage, the theater has sustained damage to operations and will relocate offices, and rehearsal space. New performance space is being sought to keep the season on track and all of our artists employed. Meanwhile, normal bills on the Warwick continue.
Cleanup and restoration will begin in the coming days and weeks. To add insult to injury, the theater was burglarized on the night of the fire, valuable items were stolen, and all of our tools were taken.
In the midst of all of this heartbreak, hundreds of messages are pouring in offering help. We cannot thank you enough. Help is desperately needed.
Please consider making a gift to the MET/WARWICK FIRE RECOVERY FUND to assist the theater in immediate relocation expenses, cleanup, meeting the deductible, and all the unexpected costs heartbreaking fire has caused.
To make a tax-deductible gift online please click here. Checks should be mailed to the regular address. In-kind and gifts of stock are welcome. MET is an IRS-recognized 501-c3 non-profit. 20–2576174.
We are grateful to our community and our wonderful board of directors helping us work through this hard time. Resilience and creativity are hallmarks of our company. The Warwick is injured, but she is not destroyed. The MET is strong. We will bring her back.
Thank you to our incredibly generous community who are already reaching out asking how to help. There are numerous, numerous ways to assist and we will reach out to you soon. Right now, the immediate needs are funds to keep the actors employed, move staff into temporary offices to resume operations and to cover unexpected expenses that disasters like this create.
Thank you so very much for your help and support! Thank you, Kansas City and friends around the region and the world. The Warwick is our home, and she belongs to all of us.
Karen Paisley, Artistic Director, Brad Dawdy, Board President, the MET Team and Board of Directors
Warwick Theater isn't my scene, really, but I'm bummed it burned. It's a cool unique addition to the streetcar route (that's not a restaurant, bar, or tax prep place).
At least one person on /r/kansascity heavily implied the fire was intentional BECAUSE of its location on the streetcar route. Oh brother.
brewcrew1000 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 11:45 am
I think ale house is super slow on weekdays but packed weekends. The brooksider is kind of the same way
Most "night life" is pretty slow in KC during the week. It seems like Westport has many more empty places than it has maybe in 15 years? Ale House, Fountain Haus, Californos which is supposedly suppose to be something else but has sat empty for 5 years, Bridgers, The place next to Tin Roof, The Whiskey Bar
I agree the weekday crowds are much less than the weekends. However I think the area needs to maybe cater more to a crowd looking to eat & drink and have a good time but not "college town rager bars". Those places were fun in college and fun after college. But with the mix of eateries and retail within Westport I think they would be better to develop more of a CrossRoads and Brookside vibe. Perhaps a slightly more rowdy version of Brookside & Crossroads but not a crazy "clubbin' vibe".
Also I think some of the management of some of these places was not the strongest. Al House, Californos, Bridgers, not sure on the others but they all tried to be high end dance clubs and that just did not work. I know there are people in town who want that. But to me Westport is a distinct neighborhood first, with retail and entertainment. Should try to be more of a hip neighborhood dining & entertainment destination, less come down to and go wild area. Plus places that cater to that type of business model usually are not build to last. They try to make as much money as possible for 5-6 years and they close up shop. Looking for businesses that want to be more of the long game would be smart.
Would love to see some more live music venues back in the area.
I don't know if you can change the entrenched view of what Westport is. Even if you attract more social dining places, you're still going to have guys fighting in the street and others just being dumb drunks. No one wants to a nice restaurant in that atmosphere.
