KCRag Forum

What was downtown and the area around the building like then?

I posted a topic, Baltimore Updraft, back in 2006. I see that it is still there, at viewtopic.php?f=44&t=9503&p=169791&hili ... rt#p169791. It may be of interest to you.

The most wonderful sites I recall about downtown Kansas City were at night in the late 1940s, when I was a little girl. Signboard Hill, where Crown Center is now, was spectacular, with that giant Pontiac sign, lights blazing in patterns. I remember looking up and seeing the the bright, Drum Room sign, thinking that it must be a wonderful place for adults to visit.

When I was in my late teens, the best movie theater in the world (to me) was in downtown, Kansas City. It was beautiful in its amazing elegance. I think it was called the "Lowe's Midland," but I'm not really sure. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

Back to Trader's… I became a keypunch operator and expressed interest in knowing more about computer work. The mainframe, if you could call it that, was an IBM 1401. My boss sent me to IBM to learn how to be a programmer. I remained in the IT field for the rest of my working life. That 1401, by the way, had an internal memory of 8k. How in the world could it do anything! All programs were punched into cards and then later compiled into smaller decks of object code.

I hope this answers some of what you asked.

Grand Sign looks fantastic. It feels “higher definition” than the 2 Light sign. Funny enough, from some skyline views the Grand appears to sit on the 2 Light sign.

I haven't seen the sign at night yet but it looks boring and cheap (imho) during the day. Not sure why they didn't center it either, just looks odd.

DColeKC wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2020 6:45 pm Not sure why they didn't center it either, just looks odd.

The rooftop penthouse is on the left side of the building. It just also happens to line up with the 2 Light sign from the memorial grounds.

LEDs were up and running this weekend. Looked really good.

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:25 am LEDs were up and running this weekend. Looked really good.

I thought the sign looked cheap at first, but it's grown on me as I've seen it from different angles and at night.