KCRag Forum

That north fountain was fully restored about 5 years ago with new pumps, lights, piping, valves, historic tile and waterproofing.

AlbertHammond wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:03 am That north fountain was fully restored about 5 years ago with new pumps, lights, piping, valves, historic tile and waterproofing.

There’s two of them and neither have worked for about 5 years

Don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but the fountains are back in operating condition on the north side of the monument. Really ties the stairway leading up from the lawn together. This is apparently the first time they’ve been in operation in 5 years.

Haven’t seen anything posted here about this, but the Museum is currently undergoing expansion of its bottom floor, said to be an expansion of group classrooms & a glass wall to have public viewing of curators working on artifacts.

I recently started volunteering on weekends at the museum and the rumblings from staff are that it should be completed by end of the year or early next. They did mention they’re doing everything possible to have it done before the draft.

New stairwell will be on the left hand side as you enter the museum, across the walkway from the ticketing stand.







Link below for more info from their website.
https://www.theworldwar.org/expansion

I'm glad they are continuing to improve the facility.

FangKC wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:25 am I'm glad they are continuing to improve the facility.

Attendance has been crazy this summer from what they’ve said. Haven’t broke the all time attendance record, but have steadily been above 1,000-1,300 daily on weekends.

A nice series of photos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Crw8FPJN-NL ... _copy_link

What was learned that could improve the LM grounds de facto status as KC's civic gathering ceremonial space? I would like to see permanent stairs on Main where the NFL put the temporary external stairs, even if it has to be cut into the hill. Just another access point always helps get people in and out even when no special event.

moderne wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 10:15 am What was learned that could improve the LM grounds de facto status as KC's civic gathering ceremonial space? I would like to see permanent stairs on Main where the NFL put the temporary external stairs, even if it has to be cut into the hill. Just another access point always helps get people in and out even when no special event.

I think the wheelchair access was an important addition.

Really wish we could come up with a permanent covered stage for concerts like what the NFL had set up. US and the LM lawn have become our central park. In a few weeks, we will have another covered stage set up for the Celebration at the Station. There are a lot of logistics issues around this but I think it could be done with some effort. Move those sandstone and Starlight concerts downtown.

moderne wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 10:15 am What was learned that could improve the LM grounds de facto status as KC's civic gathering ceremonial space? I would like to see permanent stairs on Main where the NFL put the temporary external stairs, even if it has to be cut into the hill. Just another access point always helps get people in and out even when no special event.

Yeah I liked those and with the new wider sidewalk and bike path seems like a good add.

I think we can learn a lot from splitting one event on both sides of LM. That really broke up the event. Hard to get around but seemed tough. Also the entering only off of the south side was silly but I blame NFL on that and streetcar extension will make that much more viable solution

moderne wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 10:15 am What was learned that could improve the LM grounds de facto status as KC's civic gathering ceremonial space? I would like to see permanent stairs on Main where the NFL put the temporary external stairs, even if it has to be cut into the hill. Just another access point always helps get people in and out even when no special event.

FWIW the team at UrbanLab KC has started some rough renderings (mostly just massing imagery) on what a pedestrianized Pershing between LM/PVP and US with the edges being Main and Kessler. Once we get something somewhat complete I’ll be sure to toss it up here.

We figured it’s already been proven that the city can function just fine with that section of road closed, considering it’s been like that for a few weeks now, and it serves no real connective purposes that can’t be filled by ancillary roadways.

The new Paving at Pershing and Main has a strip of concrete with bollards. I'm not sure if others have mentioned this here


looks like this

Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 10:15 pm

moderne wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 10:15 am What was learned that could improve the LM grounds de facto status as KC's civic gathering ceremonial space? I would like to see permanent stairs on Main where the NFL put the temporary external stairs, even if it has to be cut into the hill. Just another access point always helps get people in and out even when no special event.

FWIW the team at UrbanLab KC has started some rough renderings (mostly just massing imagery) on what a pedestrianized Pershing between LM/PVP and US with the edges being Main and Kessler. Once we get something somewhat complete I’ll be sure to toss it up here.

We figured it’s already been proven that the city can function just fine with that section of road closed, considering it’s been like that for a few weeks now, and it serves no real connective purposes that can’t be filled by ancillary roadways.

Hmm...are you talking about permanently closing it to cars? I'm not sure how it has "no real connective purpose" when it's the only E/W street connecting Main and Broadway between 20th & 31st and the only way to enter Union Station from the east without going way out of the way.

That said, I think pushing all of the car traffic to the south/west side and converting the other side to a bike/ped zone between Kessler and 25th/Gillham cycle track would pretty amazing.

TheBigChuckbowski wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 12:50 pm

Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 10:15 pm

moderne wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 10:15 am What was learned that could improve the LM grounds de facto status as KC's civic gathering ceremonial space? I would like to see permanent stairs on Main where the NFL put the temporary external stairs, even if it has to be cut into the hill. Just another access point always helps get people in and out even when no special event.

FWIW the team at UrbanLab KC has started some rough renderings (mostly just massing imagery) on what a pedestrianized Pershing between LM/PVP and US with the edges being Main and Kessler. Once we get something somewhat complete I’ll be sure to toss it up here.

We figured it’s already been proven that the city can function just fine with that section of road closed, considering it’s been like that for a few weeks now, and it serves no real connective purposes that can’t be filled by ancillary roadways.

Hmm...are you talking about permanently closing it to cars? I'm not sure how it has "no real connective purpose" when it's the only E/W street connecting Main and Broadway between 20th & 31st and the only way to enter Union Station from the east without going way out of the way.

That said, I think pushing all of the car traffic to the south/west side and converting the other side to a bike/ped zone between Kessler and 25th/Gillham cycle track would pretty amazing.

I understand the idea of removing cars from roads and road diets, but I'm really worried about how that looks going forward. We have DRAMATICALLY more cars than we've had in the past in the urban core. Sure, Main is under construction, but 31st, Linwood 39th, etc are now all largely right-sized for the current traffic. It's also not just rush hours anymore. There has to be a point where we see that this city is going to grow rapidly in the next several years. The roads and lane numbers were built for a time when the core was the center of the city. The number of people dropped with white flight, but we will be back to the right number of people for the roads built very soon.

The north hill needs to be completely re-altered.
The hill needs to be broken up into easily scalable "tiers" to break up the walk and create curiosity.
Each tier can be themed to feature a different aspect of Kansas City history and culture.
As one ascends (or descends) the hill they are rewarded with a new feature-filled area to explore, learn, interact, rest, etc.

Instead of the hill being a dead space and impediment to walk-ability (moat), this would make the hill one of the most unique attractions in KC and be a functional mediator between US and the Memorial. It would instantly become a "must see" attraction and natural enticement to connect our closest attractions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X7GhBO ... sp=sharing

^^ I think on these lines, a massive expansion of the museum onto the north lawn with a new entrance from that location would be amazing. Double the size of the exhibits, add more city viewing spaces and make a stronger connection to US.

Any intrusions onto the lawn would make it less functional as the crowd space it gets used for. Negative space is important in design as is positive.

moderne wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 3:13 pm Any intrusions onto the lawn would make it less functional as the crowd space it gets used for. Negative space is important in design as is positive.

It wouldn’t have to take much. Remove the lower landing between the stairs and have the stairs empty to the north. That area is already above the current museum. Two levels with an entrance to one side.

A grand staircase with terraces could be designed to be easily converted to an amphitheater with seating. Temporary protective railing could be installed around gardens and landscaping during events, so people don’t trample them

Having level terraces would negate the natural theater slope of the lawn. The slope is what makes the space special. KC has plenty of other wide open spots in parks(Theis Park) but the slope is what makes this a place where people can have long line of sight.