KCRag Forum

moderne wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 10:50 am Is the Sea Life aquarium going to remain in business after the much better aquarium at the zoo opens next year?

I don't see why not. Families in town, staying downtown with no car (or maybe with) probably don't have the KC Zoo high on their must-see list. But Sealife is a good way to kill a couple of hours with the kids.

Yeah I don't see it as real competition

I agree that they’re two different venues for a family outing. However, from past personal experience with my own family we would do both with our girls when they were young. Sealife is, as stated, about a two hour experience that could help fill in a day of sight-seeing where the KC Zoo is more of an all day experience. The plan is for the aquarium at the zoo to be included in the general admission charged to visit the zoo. When we would visit a city we would schedule a zoo visit for all day with recuperation time after in a low activity venue like a restaurant or hotel pool relaxation.
I hope Sealife remains at Crown Center to fill visitor choices for entertainment.

I'm surprised it hasn't been posted on here yet, but Skies will be opening at least seasonally with 'Winter Skies' coming in December.

^With rotating floor?

No rotating floor.

https://www.facebook.com/SkiesKansasCity

I keep seeing ads for Skies. What is the point of opening it for a month or whatever? Would be nice if that entire hotel were renovated and upgraded back to a higher tier hotel and Skies permanently re-opened. Downtown KC has changed a lot since it closed and has a lot more lights etc on buildings. Would be a great view.

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 3:05 pm I keep seeing ads for Skies. What is the point of opening it for a month or whatever? Would be nice if that entire hotel were renovated and upgraded back to a higher tier hotel and Skies permanently re-opened. Downtown KC has changed a lot since it closed and has a lot more lights etc on buildings. Would be a great view.

The GM of the hotel, Chad Mohwinkle, was interviewed the other day, and he made it seem like they were doing this as a proof of concept for wether or not there was enough demand. Obviously gave very non-committal wording, but said they’d be exploring a possibility of a permanent reopening. I’d imagine the deferred maintenance will be a pain to get it spinning again, though.

Yeah, I don't really care about if the top can spin or not, both this one & The Westin should look like stars for the Draft & not going to happen. Huge shame there, big letdown.

It would be nice if it did rotate so you can see the entire city. Would kind of suck to be stuck facing the east. But even that view is pretty cool at night since you are so high up. I hope they open it regardless. Mainly, I just hope they renovate the tower back into a higher tier flag. It's worthy of it.

Same with the Westin. I'm surprised Westin has not pulled their flag from that hotel. It's still a good hotel, but it's no longer the quality people would expect from Westin. I would say it's more like a basic, but somewhat worn Marriot now.

Yeah Westin needs a restoration/renovation. The skylight and trusses above the garden are really dirty/rusty. There is a path through the cliff garden but people aren't allowed on it. It's also really disappointing that the room's balconies are not accessible. The access issues may be due to liability, but it's a shame.

It was designed by Harry Weese (famous brutalist architect who did the DC metro stations).

One would hope they both get a freshening up before the World Cup.

Midtownkid wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:55 pm Yeah Westin needs a restoration/renovation. The skylight and trusses above the garden are really dirty/rusty. There is a path through the cliff garden but people aren't allowed on it. It's also really disappointing that the room's balconies are not accessible. The access issues may be due to liability, but it's a shame.

It was designed by Harry Weese (famous brutalist architect who did the DC metro stations).

I get in trouble sometimes when I stay there since I will open up the balcony doors using an allen wrench long enough to get some photos.

The balcony issue cannot be liability unless it is due to maintenance issues. The balconies are designed to be functional and were.

moderne wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 5:48 pm The balcony issue cannot be liability unless it is due to maintenance issues. The balconies are designed to be functional and were.

It may be related to this from years ago: https://www.kmbc.com/article/man-dies-a ... el/3671217

Link2 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:10 pm

moderne wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 5:48 pm The balcony issue cannot be liability unless it is due to maintenance issues. The balconies are designed to be functional and were.

It may be related to this from years ago: https://www.kmbc.com/article/man-dies-a ... el/3671217

Could be, but they were either still accessible right before Covid or people force their way out onto them as people were trying to watch the Super Bowl parade from there. No one was up there come the ceremony though… I wonder if the hotel sent staff around to tell them to get off?

empires228 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:57 pm

Link2 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:10 pm

moderne wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 5:48 pm The balcony issue cannot be liability unless it is due to maintenance issues. The balconies are designed to be functional and were.

It may be related to this from years ago: https://www.kmbc.com/article/man-dies-a ... el/3671217

Could be, but they were either still accessible right before Covid or people force their way out onto them as people were trying to watch the Super Bowl parade from there. No one was up there come the ceremony though… I wonder if the hotel sent staff around to tell them to get off?

That's a good point -- I wasn't sure if they'd been accessible since that accident 10 years ago. I'll try to find out.

empires228 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:57 pm

Link2 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:10 pm

moderne wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 5:48 pm The balcony issue cannot be liability unless it is due to maintenance issues. The balconies are designed to be functional and were.

It may be related to this from years ago: https://www.kmbc.com/article/man-dies-a ... el/3671217

Could be, but they were either still accessible right before Covid or people force their way out onto them as people were trying to watch the Super Bowl parade from there. No one was up there come the ceremony though… I wonder if the hotel sent staff around to tell them to get off?

I stay at that hotel every so often and the balcony doors have been locked for many years prior to covid. I do think it had to do with that fall. They seem to have cameras that face the building or maybe even sensors on the doors because if you do open them it doesn't take long for management to call or show up.

The Crown Center Hotel (original name) was the 1976 headquarters hotel for the committee to reelect the president (formerly known as CREEP), in this case President Gerald Ford. Someone upthread mentioned Harry Weese -- he indeed did design the main buildings. The "lead architect" for Crown Center was Edward Larabee Barnes, but Weese and especially his Chicago office did the heavy lifting. Crown Center opened in phases during 1972-73. I have Kodachromes from the shopping arcade opening somewhere.

Famous photographs exist of Jerry and Betty Ford standing on the balcony of the hotel greeting the crowds on Pershing Road. I also have a great shot of Betty doing "The Bump" (a disco dance) on stage at the Uptown Theater with Tony Orlando. She had been a dancer in vaudeville days. She was still drinking in 1976, gave it up sometime after moving to California to their retirement home on Thunderbird next to Ginger Rogers and the Firestones. Betty famously dumped an ice bucket full of water (Nancy claims it was backwash swill) from an overhang onto Nancy Reagan's bouffant at Kemper Arena during one of the more heated moments of that momentous week.

I went to the top of the Westin several times just before it closed - it was a bar/lounge that featured a piano and vocalist. It was in pretty bad shape, but the views were amazing. How is it possible that the space couldn't make money (or at least be self-sustaining) solely on renting it out as wedding/event space? From the gym/pool to the tennis courts/track from top to bottom so many missed or wasted opportunities.