KCRag Forum

Can Butch get The Strand theater? It would be nice to eliminate this nuisance and have a art movie house in the neighborhood. Also, the amount of Abnos ownership on Troost may be be a serious stumbling block to general revitalization.

Here's a pic of the Butch Rigby owned building:



I might have jumped to conclusions assuming that the building would be made into a Screenland. It seems a little ambiguous - perhaps "Screenland" is just part of Butch Rigby's branding. If the space isn't potentially available for lease or sale, why would he be advertising "for information"? I guess we will have to wait and see.

Pastense wrote: ↑Fri Jun 03, 2022 9:00 amAbnos ownership on Troost may be be a serious stumbling block to general revitalization.

It's obviously a problem with the hotel building east of Armour and Troost. How much more does Abnos still own? There's the building at 40th and Troost, but at least that is actively being used. He recently sold the Apollo Theater building (now owned, or at least marketed by Terra Management. I have heard rumors of happenings in that building, but nothing concrete). He has some of the lots around the Apollo currently listed for sale.

Unrelated, the Show Warehouse building across from the Apollo did sell recently. There has been some working going on, clearing out the building. I haven't heard anything about who bought it or the plans.

He /may/ still own the building(s) on the SW corner of Troost and 32nd Terrace, and the building east of the MAC building in Squier Park. The old LLC he used only shows a couple properties, but he may have just spun the properties to different LLCs he controls.

I wish Butch Rigby would have bought the former Apollo Theater at 3229 Troost Avenue (near Linwood) and renovated it as a Screenland.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6993

Location:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3229+ ... 94.5711073

FangKC wrote: ↑Fri Jun 03, 2022 4:17 pm I wish Butch Rigby would have bought the former Apollo Theater at 3229 Troost Avenue (near Linwood) and renovated it as a Screenland.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6993

Location:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3229+ ... 94.5711073

agreed. is there any recent pictures of the Apollos interior and its condition?

I haven't seen any. It was being used as an arts studio the last I heard, but that was years ago.

KCtoBrooklyn wrote: ↑Fri Jun 03, 2022 11:47 amUnrelated, the Show Warehouse building across from the Apollo did sell recently. There has been some working going on, clearing out the building. I haven't heard anything about who bought it or the plans.

Looks like it will be an Amazon return discount shop:

https://cityscenekc.com/new-troost-stor ... n-returns/

Here are some photo updates for The Crosswalks. Looks like the first of two elevator shaft/stairwell towers on the NW corner is complete and the second is under construction:





Site work/grading well underway for the SW corner:



Exterior work on the SE corner is pretty far along:



NW Corner. I couldn't tell if the units were complete and if move-ins have started. Work underway on the Chase branch, but still looks a ways off.





And here is a look into an opening in the Abnos owned hotel building. God knows what's going on in there:

Thanks for the photos KCtoBrooklyn.

"And here is a look into an opening in the Abnos owned hotel building. God knows what's going on in there:"
The answer: Nothing.

Well, nothing good, that's for sure. Things have definitely happened in there - mostly the building being stripped of any character. I have mentioned it before, but I have encountered a couple different places where architectural salvage from the interior of this building was being sold. Some nice terra cotta work that I believe came from an auditorium or gym in the building.

I'm curious what the interior looked like before Abnos bought it in the not-too-distant past. It's probably best that I don't know.

I haven't really noticed any activity around the building lately, but those ugly glass block windows were installed not too long ago. There are clearly some signs of work, but I don't have any hope for anything positive.

Abnos is a bad actor developer and property owner. It's never a good sign when a building falls under that ownership.

It was in very rough shape before, but not so rough that MAC wasn't trying to loop it into the rest of the development there. Abnos turned down a huge offer for the building. According to Parcel Viewer, there's no permit on that property for buildback work, which seems pretty typical for him. Not sure why the city doesn't shut him down.

Chris Goode, operator of Ruby Jean's on Troost, is advocating to change the name of the street.

‘We don’t just have to live with it’: KC business owner pitches new name for Troost Avenue

Chris Goode grew up near a Kansas City street that honors a slave owner and now owns a business along that street. As a former member of the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners, Goode pushed for J.C. Nichols’ name to be stripped from the fountain in Mill Creek Park and for the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the city. Now, he’s hoping to change the name of one of the city’s most well-known streets — Troost Avenue.
...
The nearly 11-mile stretch is named after Benoist Troost, a slave owner, Dutch physician and one of Kansas City’s founding fathers.
...
Troost Avenue intersects with the stretch Lyons, Goode and others worked to rename as Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in 2020. It’s ironic, Goode said, that a slave owner is honored in the same manner as a civil rights leader. “It’s such a juxtaposition that we have to explore,” he said. “There shouldn’t be an opportunity to see two sides in front of us. What Dr. King stood for versus what Dr. Troost stood for is night and day.”
...

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... rylink=cpy

Why does it always feel like when it comes to naming anything for civil rights leaders, people act like MLK was the only one?

Let's rename it "Proust" since we are hoping to dream about the future but are haunted by dreams of our past.

longviewmo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:37 am Why does it always feel like when it comes to naming anything for civil rights leaders, people act like MLK was the only one?

We do also have a Cesar Chavez blvd

shinatoo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:49 am Let's rename it "Proust" since we are hoping to dream about the future but are haunted by dreams of our past.

Post of the year!

shinatoo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:49 am Let's rename it "Proust" since we are hoping to dream about the future but are haunted by dreams of our past.

That would actually be great

freedog wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:03 pm

longviewmo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:37 am Why does it always feel like when it comes to naming anything for civil rights leaders, people act like MLK was the only one?

We do also have a Cesar Chavez blvd

I can at least find record of MLK visiting KC but not Chavez. It still just feels like people never learned any sort of depth in school so we get stuck with pop names instead of grassroot badasses.

shinatoo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:49 am Let's rename it "Proust" since we are hoping to dream about the future but are haunted by dreams of our past.

And we can pronounce it like prOWst