The Downtown Beat - Bringing the Four Corners of the City Together
As a former marketing dude at eh zoo, I’ve become all too comfortable with animal metaphors. Whether an old saying or a bad joke, they can add color to any topic.
Take downtown, for example. Downtown Kansas City is in the midst of a renaissance that few believed could ever happen. A myriad of improvements have contributed to this realization, but none more then the arrival of two 800lb. gorillas less then a year ago.
Powerful. Awe-inspiring. Game changers. In less then eight months since the first one arrived, Kansas City’s giant apes have completely turned our urban jungle on its head.
Caged smack-dab in the heart of downtown, the Sprint Center has wowed and thrilled ever since welcoming Elton John to its gala opening in October. Then, just last month, the Sprint Center celebrated its one millionth guest-a couple from Olathe- on the night that Sting, the Police, and Elvis rocked the ol’ cowtown. It has the Sprint Center’s 97th event in just seven months.
Not to be out done by its older sister, the Kansas City Power & Light District is fast on its way to welcoming its 1 millionth visitor-and most of that happening just since March. Jon Stephens, the marketing guru at the Power & Light District, is quick to admit he isn’t able to definitively count heads, but there’s no doubting the drawing power of Kansas City’s hottest attraction.
Weekend after weekend, you can catch Stephens beaming as his clubs, restaurants, and outdoor playground fill to capacity with locals, along with eager suburbanites who had long lost their desire to come downtown.
The allure of the beasts is absolutely amazing-and we’ve only begun to see positive changes downtown. By the end of this year, the Power & Light District will expand into the renovated Midland Theatre-soon to be KC’s most impressive indoor concert facility; the reborn Mainstreet theatre-soon to be the new AMC digital, multiscreen flagship; and a full-service grocery store (all hail the Cosentinos!).
Today’s urban landscape in Kansas City is simply a different world then what existed 5 to 10 years ago when blight, crime, and empty buildings posed a menacing welcome to downtown.
In the last five years, more then $5.2 billion has been planted downtown. No city in the United States has done so much in a short time to revitalize its downtown. And, yet, despite the progress we’ve made, those in the know believe the job is only 40% done.
In order for Kansas City to leverage this excitement into a sustainable success story, it must continue to attract locals, visitors, residents, and business owners inside the greater downtown footprint-stretching from River Market to the north through the Central Business District through Crossroads through Union Station, Liberty Memorial, and Crown Center to Martini Corner to the south; and from the 18th and Vine Jazz District to the east to State Line to the west.
In fact, today’s downtown renaissance actually began in one of the smaller districts, the Crossroads. Nearly a decade ago, when the Crossroads blossomed as the city’s new arts district, it was First Friday that began to turn heads throughout the metro area. It was the early stages of considering it cool to come downtown to live, work, and play.
How far have we come on the cool scale since then? Consider this sampling of greater downtown events over a rather typical two-week period in early May:
-We cavorted at First Friday in the Crossroads
-Sampled downtown living with the Urban Tour of 26 lofts and condos
-Got Wicked at the Music Hall
-Met an American Idol finalist at the Power & Light District
-Rocked out to Little Feet at Grinders
-Shopped for Mom at the City Market’s Flower Festival
-Competed in tricycle races at Martini Corner, Where free shots were offered at each pit stop
-Celebrated Latino flavors and sounds at Fiesta at Crown Center
-Danced the night away with McFadden Brothers in the Blue Room
-Peeked under the skirts of Bodies Revealed at Union Station
-Celebrated Mother’s Day at the hippest Bristol restaurant on the planet
-Boogied all night with the Police at Sprint Center
-Basked in the glow of downtown’s newest public art instillation, Celestial Flyaways, at Oppenstein Park
-Cocktailed at one of KC’s coolest fundraisers: Oyster Royster at City Tavern, which was complete with a cruise-wear fashion show by Birdies Panties- KC’s hippest place to buy unmentionables and swim wear
-Rocked out at the Power & Light District at the first of the Spring Extravaganza with a free concert by Three Dog Night and Dr. Hook.
Whew! And I didn’t even scratch the surface of our performing arts, museums, clubs, nightlife, galleries, and urban parks. While the 800lb. gorillas are the new darlings of Kansas City, this list illustrates that downtown is at its best when its colorful and varied neighborhoods work in harmony. After all, no zoo would be successful with only two giant apes. You need all of the jungle creatures to come out and play.
That’s where I come in. On the week that the Big 12 basketball tournaments rocked the city, I joined the staff of the downtown council to orchestrate a marketing program for greater downtown. The intent is to work in partnership with all of the downtown districts to market greater downtown as a destination for dining, entertainment, and cultural enhancement; as a place to call home; as the preferred location for business.
It’s a chance to leverage the awesome might of the Sprint Center and Power & Light District in to order to benefit all of the urban cats. With millions of visitors to downtown, an integrated marketing message will be designed to benefit the largest and smallest attractions, clubs, galleries, and businesses.
It will be my job to bring together all the energies of all the great people representing downtown’s diverse districts. Working together, we’ll share our message that Kansas City is not only a vibrant place to live and work, it’s more fun then a barrel of, well, you know.