OFFICIAL - Bartle Hall Expansion construction

[lock+load]

Are we sure that the columns are completely finished?  Still looks like active construction to me.

I sure hope not, they are all nasty rusty now.

[KCMax]

Bartle ballroom near completion

The official price tag for the new and still unnamed ballroom at Bartle Hall inched upward Tuesday to $150.3 million — $150,328,810 to be exact.....

The ballroom is to open April 28 with an invitation-only, black-tie event featuring jazz singer Nancy Wilson....

Officials say the 46,450-square-foot ballroom will rank among the 10 largest convention center ballrooms in the nation....

To help keep the project on budget, the committee last year agreed to eliminate several features, including exterior fountains and a driveway off 16th Street to the building’s southside main entrance.

Eddy, who lost a bid for mayor last month and leaves the council in May, said restoring the fountains, estimated at $2 million, should be the priority for any new financing that is obtained....

Kansas City-based Crawford Architects has been selected to design improvements to Bartle Hall’s north dock along 12th Street.

The estimated $5 million project aims to improve dock efficiency and increase the city’s flexibility to schedule events at the downtown convention center.

The changes also are expected to dress up the public appearance of the dock area, said Crawford’s Stacey Jones, who will lead the project. Construction is expected to begin this fall.

“We’re not just going to make the dock wider and bigger, but with landscaping we’re also going to make it more appealing to the eye,” said Oscar McGaskey Jr., director of the Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Centers.

[DaveKCMO]

it will be named after kay barnes. i'd bet my left nut on it.

[KCTigerFan]

If they can get a reasonable price for the naming rights, I guarantee that the name will be sold.  All in all, if they can get some $ and direct that to more Convention Center improvements (see landscaping and a fountain) that would be great.

The best situation is that an adult entertainment venue buys the rights and they decide to honor MKB also...

Totally Nude Barnes Ballroom! 

Now if that doesn't keep you up at night.

[ddw334umkc]

World Class!!

[shaffe]

i simply cannot wait to get in there for Forks and Corks this year.  i'm making a trip back from CoMo on a school night solely for that purpose.

great pics ddw, how did you get access?

[GRID]

Thanks a bunch for all these photos!  That's one hell of a MAX stop.  What going in behind the shelters? A parking garage right?  I really hope the city can find the money to build the fountain next to the ballroom.  The them of the ballroom is water, yet they cut the fountain.

[Gladstoner]

I really hope the city can find the money to build the fountain next to the ballroom.  The them of the ballroom is water, yet they cut the fountain.

It does seem kind of silly that a convention center with a water theme, in the City of Fountains no less, won't have any fountains.

Overall, though, I must say the ballroom is looking pretty sharp.

[tat2kc]

Maybe someone or some group will step up and pay for the fountain as a memorial or tribute, like the Bloch fountain at Union Station. 

A tribute to Buck O'neil maybe? 

[Maitre D]

Why did we spend 150M on a new convention ballroom, if we are losing all our conventions?

how will we pay for that

[KCTigerFan]

What ames you think we are losing all of our conventions?  Most planners will book halls 2+ years in advance.  That means that there may be a lull, but I do know that the numbers are looking good for 2009 and later.  The next step is to regain some of the much larger conventions, but we will need a major convention hotel and probably another main hall expansion for that.  All of the renovations and additions done to this point are basically to keep pace and retain the mid-size events.  That should be enough to cover the bonds payments.  The alternative is we have a multi-block white elephant sitting there seldom used.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Why did we spend 150M on a new convention ballroom, if we are losing all our conventions?

how will we pay for that

????  By all accounts, our numbers have been trending steadily up. 

[Maitre D]

????  By all accounts, our numbers have been trending steadily up. 

NO, the Biz Journal ran a story saying large conventions have dried up in KC, b/c of downtown's demise.

I think the period is the next 3-4 years.

[KCTigerFan]

KCCVA sets booking record

December sees most room nights ever booked by the organization

Contact: Laren Mahoney , 816-691-3851 • Alan Carr, 816-691-3829

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association (KCCVA) ended 2005 with a record-breaking convention booking month, booking the largest number of hotel room nights ever by the organization in a single month.

In December, the KCCVA booked 43 meetings for future years that will bring 138,380 people to Kansas City and add 212,396 room nights to area hotels. The projected economic impact of these meetings is $49 million, based on organization and delegate spending. During 2005, the KCCVA booked a total of 424,960 room nights for future years, with an economic impact of $205 million.

“This is the best booking month in KCCVA history and a homerun for Kansas City,” said Bill Bohde, vice president of convention sales & services for the KCCVA. “The city’s developing Convention District—consisting of the Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Centers, the 46,450-square-foot ballroom, Sprint Center and the Power & Light District—has created a renewed interest in our city, causing meeting planners who normally may not consider Kansas City to take a second look, and then also book.”

The previous one-month booking record was set in December 2003 when 33 meetings and 204,191 room nights were booked.

Conventions booked in December include Wal-Mart’s annual year-end meeting, January 2008-2012, with 166,660 total room nights; Blacks in Government, Aug. 8-13, 2010, with 17,350 room nights and the National Genealogical Society, June 4-7, 2008, with 2,420 room nights. Overland Park-based Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., booked a national incentive convention typically held on the coasts, bringing 1,500 attendees and 2,610 room nights home to KC, April 29-May 1, 2007.

“The impact these meetings have on Kansas City will be felt throughout the metropolitan area,” said Bohde. “Meeting planners and their convention attendees are very excited about Kansas City’s new developments. We look forward to a busy 2006 as we continue to get the word out to meeting planners about all that is happening in Kansas City.”

In 2004, the KCCVA booked a total of 310,185 room nights for future years, with an economic impact of $230 million.

In addition to the KCCVA’s convention booking success in 2005, the Association also had a 60-percent increase in site visits to Kansas City over last year, hosting 109 in 2005. These trips by meeting planners to tour Kansas City’s facilities are important factors in deciding whether to choose the city as the site of a meeting. These visits are often among the final steps of the bid process.

The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to enhance economic growth and quality of life for the region and its residents through marketing, sales and service for the convention and tourism industries. For more information about all there is to see and do in Kansas City, visit the organization’s Web site at VisitKC.com.

##KC##

[ShowMeKC]

Downtown's demise? In current years? Okay.... 

[moderne]

The cladding on the columns looks good from the freeway, but the look as a whole has sort of a retro mid-century modern quality.

[kard]

"Lincoln Center meets Apple Store"

[KCPowercat]

NO, the Biz Journal ran a story saying large conventions have dried up in KC, b/c of downtown's demise.

I think the period is the next 3-4 years.

I searched their archives and couldn't find an article...do you remember when it was?

From what I heard, 08 isn't great but after that is looking very good.

[GRID]

Why did we spend 150M on a new convention ballroom, if we are losing all our conventions?

how will we pay for that

Bookings for KC conventions is WAY up.  Like everything else, KC got real low and dropped from a top 10-15 convention city to barley hanging on to the top 40-50.  We still need to continue fixing downtown, expand bartle again and build a new hotel and KC will be a top ten convention city again because of its location, cost and what it can offer visitors.

But I'm not really sure what you mean by "we".  I realize you may dine in KCMO once in a while, but Bartle Hall is funded by KCMO hotel and restaurant taxes as well as other funding sources from the city and the state (of MO).

[Maitre D]

Bookings for KC conventions is WAY up.  Like everything else, KC got real low and dropped from a top 10-15 convention city to barley hanging on to the top 40-50.  We still need to continue fixing downtown, expand bartle again and build a new hotel and KC will be a top ten convention city again because of its location, cost and what it can offer visitors.

BizJournal wrote a front page article on this in the Fall, about the demise in large conventions.  I know I saw it.

But I'm not really sure what you mean by "we".  I realize you may dine in KCMO once in a while, but Bartle Hall is funded by KCMO hotel and restaurant taxes as well as other funding sources from the city and the state (of MO).

Fair point - I'll restate, people outside of you & I.  You know, people who can't afford these kind of projects.