KCRag Forum

Amtrak has a bid out to get their tracks at Union Station replaced.

Too bad it's just the rail, ties and ballast. Those platforms/stairs are in terrible shape and we deserve some overhead cover and a functional elevator.

Thinking long term, I think 2 Pershing needs to be demolished in whole or part so Union Station's northernmost platform can be reopened. It's ridiculous that such a huge train station has to relegate its Amtrak platform outside, and I don't see that changing unless something major happens.

Also, 2 Pershing is a bad building, so it'd be a great chance to built a better, more sympathetic complex deserving of the site.

Is it worth it for just a few trains a day? IIRC, the station used to handle over 200/day at peak until air travel became mainstream. Even long term, hard to imagine more than a dozen.

earthling wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 5:21 pm Is it worth it for just a few trains a day? IIRC, the station used to handle over 200/day at peak until air travel became mainstream. Even long term, hard to imagine more than a dozen.

Not now, obviously. But if rail travel improves in the midwest or we start some sort of commuter rail system, I think this is something that should be considered

Watch the steam locomotive pull into Union Station.

https://www.reddit.com/r/kansascity/com ... dium=web2x

Some photos.

https://www.reddit.com/r/kansascity/com ... dium=web2x

https://www.reddit.com/r/kansascity/com ... ium=web2x

Neato!

Really sad I missed this.

My regret is trying to see it at US when there were so many better options all around the metro.

grovester wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:50 am My regret is trying to see it at US when there were so many better options all around the metro.

I really doubt there is. Find a place to host the event and you'll find the track design creates access problems to getting spun around the right direction.

They also needed to take routes where they could take on fuel.

flyingember wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2019 12:45 pm

grovester wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:50 am My regret is trying to see it at US when there were so many better options all around the metro.

I really doubt there is. Find a place to host the event and you'll find the track design creates access problems to getting spun around the right direction.

They also needed to take routes where they could take on fuel.

I think that he meant that there were better locations to view the train from - specifically while it was moving around the metro area.

It sounded cool as hell on Sunday night in midtown. Loved hearing the old school sounding whistle.

Limited edition prints available.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5GZSX6AnE ... _copy_link

Union Station had an adult theater in the 1970s called the Astro Theater.

And another thing, Huggins says, “There’s that Extreme Screen in there — is that part making any money? I could think of cooler things to put in there that wouldn’t make money, either, but they’d be a lot more interesting than movies about frogs narrated by Glenn Close. It would be a backhand tribute to the dirty movie theater that used to be in Union Station. There was a little raincoat-crowd theater in there called the Astro. I say put that stuff on the Extreme Screen.”

https://www.thepitchkc.com/move-over-mary/

Jerry Medlin owned a percentage of the Strand in the 1970s with Charles Setter. Eventually, Setter sold the Strand to Snow.

Previously, Setter and Medlin owned the Astro, a porno house inside Union Station. Deep Throat screened there when it was released.

https://kansascityarchives.com/2019/04/ ... st-avenue/

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2019 5:18 pm Thinking long term, I think 2 Pershing needs to be demolished in whole or part so Union Station's northernmost platform can be reopened. It's ridiculous that such a huge train station has to relegate its Amtrak platform outside, and I don't see that changing unless something major happens.

Also, 2 Pershing is a bad building, so it'd be a great chance to built a better, more sympathetic complex deserving of the site.

Wasn’t 2 Pershing put up when that Canadian firm (can’t recall the name rn) was brought in to try and revitalize the station? It serves little value to the site IMO and provides obstruction for views from LM. I’d propose we demolish and move the office complex to CC footprint, allowing whatever firms currently occupy the site to remain fairly close to their current site. But again, that’s in a perfect world, or a video game lol.

Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:59 amWasn’t 2 Pershing put up when that Canadian firm (can’t recall the name rn) was brought in to try and revitalize the station? It serves little value to the site IMO and provides obstruction for views from LM. I’d propose we demolish and move the office complex to CC footprint, allowing whatever firms currently occupy the site to remain fairly close to their current site. But again, that’s in a perfect world, or a video game lol.

The Canadian firm was Trizec. They never redeveloped the station itself of course, but they built both 2 pershing and the blue cross building. They also wanted to demolish union station’s waiting room.

The biggest issue with tearing 2 pershing down, though, is that it houses a lot of government employees who patronize union station during lunchtime. That’s why, if it gets demolished, new office space should be build nearby to compensate, preferably over the space just north of Washington Square Park

FangKC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 4:11 am Union Station had an adult theater in the 1970s called the Astro Theater.

And another thing, Huggins says, “There’s that Extreme Screen in there — is that part making any money? I could think of cooler things to put in there that wouldn’t make money, either, but they’d be a lot more interesting than movies about frogs narrated by Glenn Close. It would be a backhand tribute to the dirty movie theater that used to be in Union Station. There was a little raincoat-crowd theater in there called the Astro. I say put that stuff on the Extreme Screen.”

https://www.thepitchkc.com/move-over-mary/

Jerry Medlin owned a percentage of the Strand in the 1970s with Charles Setter. Eventually, Setter sold the Strand to Snow.

Previously, Setter and Medlin owned the Astro, a porno house inside Union Station. Deep Throat screened there when it was released.

https://kansascityarchives.com/2019/04/ ... st-avenue/

That's a great Pitch article.

Jerry Medlin owned a percentage of the Strand in the 1970s with Charles Setter. Eventually, Setter sold the Strand to Snow.

Previously, Setter and Medlin owned the Astro, a porno house inside Union Station. Deep Throat screened there when it was released.

https://kansascityarchives.com/2019/04/ ... st-avenue/


In 2004, Dan Renzi from The Real World: Miami was arrested at the Strand Theatre and charged with indecent conduct after being spotted by undercover officers masturbating during a porn movie.

We should gofundme a plaque.

I'm amazed that the Strand is still open.

FangKC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:56 pm I'm amazed that the Strand is still open.

I thought you meant in 2004 but you meant today. I had no idea. KC’s oldest continuously operating movie theater since 1916. I wonder when was the last time the seats were replaced?

strandkc.com