November 2022: Kansas City Geographic

P LU S : The Bright Future of the Kaw Riverfront / Acre Reviewed / Nigella Lawson Interview

Inside Arrowhead's toniest tailgate, the secret hiding spot of the world’s best stamp collection, traffic stops on the state line and more.

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KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

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Imagine the Potential

NOVEMBER 2022

68 New reasons to visit northwest Arkansas

42

52

84

Creekside Chateau

Landing It

Pedigreed in Parkville

A grand French-inspired home in Tomahawk Creek Estates

10

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

A fresh look at KC’s landscape and landmarks

Acre comes from a chef with an impressive resume.

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In This Issue NOVEMBER 2022

S WAY

37

T H E LO O P

19

TA S T E

Skirting Work

A local duo’s cool new crochet project

A Caribbean spot’s savory, spicy sandos

Left Bank

Reimagining the forgotten Kaw Riverfront

38 40 42 22

24

Short Staffed

Tru Facts

Local hospitals have lost key workers.

President Truman returns to the Capitol

Normal Now

84

Acreage

State Secret

86

Perfect Day

Corner Cut

88

Drink

A new Plaza retailer makes elevated basics.

An interview with an artist you’ll find hanging at Ninth & State

A limestone estate that’s both grand and cozy

E V E RY I S S U E

14

Editor’s Letter

27 Calendar 32 Backbeat 92 Surreal Estate

P LU S : The Bright Future of the Kaw Riverfront / Acre Reviewed / Nigella Lawson Interview

O N TH E C OVE R

11.2022 KC G E O G R A P H I C | K AW R E D E V E LO P M E N T kansascitymag.com

12

83

Pork Shop

Illustration by Katie Henrichs

Inside Arrowhead's toniest tailgate, the secret hiding spot of the world’s best stamp collection, traffic stops on the state line and more.

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

89 90

Prime dry-aged steaks in Parkville

Wayne Moots dishes on a new cookbook project.

Boulevard brings back an English pub ale.

Newsfeed

The latest in KC food news

’Cue Card

Why Arrowhead intimidates pro pitmasters

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FROM THE EDITOR

14

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

Katie Henrichs ART DIRECTOR

This month’s cover was illustrated

by Art Director Katie Henrichs. It’s her last issue with the magazine, and she’ll be missed.

Taylor Drummond EDITORIAL INTERN

This month’s Loop section opens with a piece about the redevelopment of the Kaw riverfront by editorial intern Taylor Drummond.

Natalea Bonjour PHOTOGRAPHER

Both the crocheted skirts that open the Sway section and the portrait of Corey Green in the Sway section were photographed

by Natalea Bonjour.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOANNA GORHAM AND VICENTE MARTÍ

A

few hours before the annual Plaza Art Fair, I found myself walking the streets of the century-old shopping district with a pen and a few crumpled pieces of paper.

This month’s cover feature is something we’re calling Kansas City Geographic, a slightly off-kilter look at the city’s unique landmarks and landscape.

I was taking notes to make an updated version of a sixty-year-old map of the Plaza we unearthed from deep in the library’s archives. I needed to survey every storefront noted on the old map so our hardworking art director could make a new map of the Plaza—the Classic Cup is basically the only thing that remains roughly the same—which you’ll find on page 56. It’s part of a package of stories that I hope will bring some surprise and delight to even the most knowledgeable locals.

I know from talking to people about journalism and our magazine that many of them picture us holed up in a coffee shop lost in our thoughts, possibly while wearing a beret. It’s in fact far more likely you’ll find a magazine writer with a rain-spattered notebook, possibly while dodging golf carts and forklifts. It’s a vocation that requires natural curiosity above all, but then the drive to take that curiosity out on the pavement—observing, taking notes, talking to people.

It’s probably not a coincidence that most good journalists I’ve known are at least a little obsessed with the area they cover as a physical space—that is, geography. Every newsroom I’ve worked in had a few maps hanging on the wall, usually full of color-coded tacks from past projects. A surprising number of reporters shun GPS and like getting a little lost if it means they see a corner of their coverage area they’d missed before. Us editor types are forever begging our art teams to make maps for print, a nettlesome task no graphic designer I’ve yet worked with seems to particularly enjoy.

Which brings us back to the Country Club Plaza, a neighborhood I’ve been fascinated with since first stepping foot in Kansas City. It’s a place I can happily spend hours just walking around, looking at all the rich detail and odd juxtapositions of the streetscape. I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the world quite like it: a Spanish Revival shopping mall dotted with intricate tiled artwork where a Cheesecake Factory exists in an architecturally significant historic building.

I feel the same way about the legal oddities of a city with a state line running right through the middle of it and the cement statues installed by J.C. Nichols throughout his developments on the city’s south side, two other topics we address this month.

The Kansas City Geographic package was a passion project for me and is surely one of the more unusual things we’ve done. But I hope some of that enthusiasm will be contagious and that the way we’ve presented the city’s unique landmarks and landscape will capture Martin Cizmar your imagination or, at the very least, teach EDITOR IN CHIEF MARTIN@KANSASCITYMAG.COM you some fun new trivia.

C O N T R I B U TO R S

IMAGINE

Game Day OUTSIDE

Create a game plan for your backyard at

DECKORATORS.COM

COURTIER

BEHIND THE SCENES NUMBERS FROM THIS ISSUE

10

Presidents whose statues stand in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.

PA GE 24

2K

Words that Domestic Goddess Nigella Lawson dedicated to praising anchovies in her new book.

PA GE 30

0

Number of homes that get their water from the Waldo Tower—the milliongallon tower has been empty since 1957.

PA GE 5 4

FUTURE FORECAST

Our most talked-about story from the October issue was a profile of Gary Lezak, the chief meteorologist on KSHB 41 News. Lezak will retire on December 1 at age sixty so that he can focus on Weather2020, a service he founded that provides forecasts for anywhere in the world a hundred days ahead of time. The company is built on his own system called the Lezak Recurring Cycle, which forecasts based on repeating weather patterns. “I was wondering when I would do it,” Lezak told our writer. “I turned sixty years old this year and I was thinking, you know, maybe by the time I’m sixtyfive. But because I have this other thing to share with the world, I thought I better do that because I don’t want to have regrets in my life.” Here’s what readers had to say.

Gary, you are loved by so many people in the KC area and not having you on TV will leave a huge hole but know this, your fans support your decision to pursue your dreams! We only wish the best for you in the years to come! I will say this though… I have watched you since you came to KC and there isn’t anyone on any channel that can fill those shoes!

—Beth A. Lukens Lynn I hope your successor continues with your LRC [ultra long-range weather forecast].

Will you bequeath it to him/ her? I always look forward to hearing what’s in store for us.

It’s fascinating and so accurate! —Deborah Kendrick

“

Gary, I have watched you for years. You’re the best.

Thank you for going the full distance. Love you forever.

—Suzanne Hirschman Sorry to see you leave!

—Sheryl Mills Anthony Yes!!! After moving to Austin I still say it’s “Friday night in the big town!” Love me some Gary. —Jill Wilson Allred When is he retiring? It seems like this retirement has been going on almost as long as the Queen’s funeral.

—Commenter on Tony’s Kansas City

People were coming up asking for nachos. Nachos are great—you’re at the game and everybody wants nachos.”

—BUCK TUI OWNER TED LIBERDA ON THE NEW DISH HE DEVELOPED FOR ARROWHEAD STADIUM

16

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

A reporter’s photo of ceramic tile insects during a hard hat tour of the world’s first bikeable building, which is in Bentonville, Arkansas.

SHOUT OUT

Thanks to Ben at the Coler Mountain Campground in Bentonville for making editor Martin Cizmar’s trip to northwest Arkansas for this month’s mini-feature a lot nicer.

CORRECTIONS

Our October issue misstated the date of weatherman Gary Lezak’s retirement, which is December 1.

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KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

L E A D I N G T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N I N K A N S A S C I T Y

CASH KAW The oft-ignored Kansas River is set for a major glow-up as Wyandotte County raises a levee to open its riverfront for new development.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STAFF

BY TAY LO R D R U M M O N D

KANSASCITYMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2022

19

T H E L O O P C A S H K AW

C

ROSSING

THE

KANSAS

is a daily occurrence for many people in the city. It’s a familiar blur on the drive to work along a bustling interstate. Despite being a key feature of the city’s natural topography with a history closely tied to the city, KC’s second river is regularly overlooked, along with its surrounding railroad bridges and industry.

That may soon change.

For Wyandotte County, the Kaw riverfront holds promise as an area that could be developed into a welcoming two-acre community space to inspire the public to go out and enjoy the natural riverfront. To do that, the Unified Government of Wyandotte first needs to stop the area from flooding—as happened in 1993, when a deadly flood covered thousands of acres.

Starting last year, the Unified Government has been actively raising the levee around the riverfront as a first step to building what could soon become a center of tourism, recreation and nightlife. The levee is the first step in a five-year plan, which will continue with mixed-use trails being built on top followed by the Rock Island Railroad Bridge being transformed into an entertainment space slated to open in the spring of 2023.

20

RIVER

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

All about triangulation Once the levee has been improved—it should be fully completed by 2026, says Katherine Carttar, who works in development for the Unified Government—the project will transform nearby riverfront into recreation spaces. The main focus of the space lies on a triangular plot of open land that was once part of the Kansas City Stockyard from 1871 to 1991. The land sits on the Kansas side, just south of Interstate 670, near the historic Rock Island Bridge and in view of the Hy-Vee Arena.

“The whole thing is an opportunity to rethink how we see the river and to encourage people to get out and get moving,” Carttar says. She also notes that the health statistics for Wyandotte County are among the lowest in the state, and she hopes to improve that through the creation of more community spaces and a network of trails.

Trailblazing “We want to make sure this is an area that is so right for activity and entertainment, and on top of that, literally, are the levee trails,” Carttar says. The trails created along the riverfront will connect to nearby trail networks, such as the Riverfront Heritage Trail. “That is the joy of these trail networks: You don’t have to

Bridge outside the box A vision for even more community space comes from the Rock Island Bridge project slated to open next year, and the new owners of the renovated Hy-Vee Arena.

There have been discussions of a zipline from the top of the arena to the bridge as well as a possible ropes course on top of the threeacre roof of the Hy-Vee Arena.

“There are a lot outside-the-box, fun things that we have never really done,” Carttar says. “People have a lot of of ideas.” Once more land is acquired to the north, there is an opportunity for even more recreational activity spaces for the community, possibly including a public park or a skating rink.

The Unified Government is also working alongside the Kansas City Boat Club to add access to the river through docks and possibly kayak rentals. Unlike the mighty Missouri River, the Kansas River has a slower current that makes it better suited to casual paddling. “I just think it is a great opportunity to think about our relationship with the river,” Carttar says.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STAFF

Could the Kaw riverfront become KC’s next great public space?

have them in a bubble,” Carttar says. “They can be connected.”

There will be benches and fountains along the trails and lighting along the paths. Various sections of the trails will switch between being paved and laid with tiny aggregate rock for cyclists and runners alike.

From the trails, there will be crossings over to the west side of the Kaw River, which Carttar says will invite people further into KCK. The inspiration comes from cities that have their own riverfront spaces such as Austin, Washington D.C and Louisville.

The whole project will include seventeen miles of new trails along the riverfront. The triangle-shaped plot of land will include shaded gathering areas, parking, stairs to river viewing areas, access points for kayaks and more.

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TH E LO O P STA FF SELECTION

HEALTH CARE: HELP WANTED How hospitals in Kansas City are grappling with a decline in staffing numbers

BY O L I V I A AU G U S T I N E

A

T

THE

BEGINNING

of the Covid-19 pandemic, health care workers were praised as heroes for putting themselves in the line of fire everyday as this new unknown illness swept the nation. The role of health care workers in the pandemic has not changed, but the number of them in hospitals has.

Hospitals around Kansas City have lost staff, and it’s not only putting immense stress on health care workers but also affecting the numbers of patients hospitals can handle.

Health care workers have been put under pressure because of political tensions around Covid guidelines, says Gina Creek, who oversees regional staffing for AdventHealth. As some people grew tired of Covid-19 guidelines, like masking policies or social distancing restrictions, they began to villainize health care workers who supported those policies.

That said, Creek says there has been fear of a shortage, particularly in nursing, dating as far back as 2017. The process was simply accelerated by the pandemic, sparking

22

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

a noticeable change in staffing numbers as early as 2020. A serious drop came with the Delta variant of the virus in the summer of 2021.

“When the Delta surge came last summer, that was during a time where we once again had to make some critical choices about what units to keep open, what elective procedures to do,” Creek says. “We started to see this huge increase in what [staffing] agencies were paying, and we started to see even more nurses opt to go that direction, and we actually started seeing an increase in our early retirement as early as 2020.”

These hospital shortages are not limited to health care workers. AdventHealth is also struggling to staff teachers at its child care facility within the hospital.

According to officers at AdventHealth, North Kansas City Hospital and the University of Kansas Health System, other areas of shortage include nursing, respiratory, anesthesia, radiology, technology, laboratory and housekeeping.

Kerri Jenkins, a vice president at North Kansas City Hospital, says they started noticing their first significant decline in staffing after the first wave of Covid-19 hit.

“Clinical staffing demands outweighed

the workforce supply, which led to inflated rates of pay and a reliance on agency staff,” Jenkins wrote in an email to Kansas City magazine.

Whether it be early retirement, layoffs or career changes, it is clear that many people are cutting their health care careers short. However, does it track that fewer people are interested in joining the profession? Chris Ruder of The University of Kansas Health System doesn’t think so.

If anything, Ruder says that a smaller number of students going to medical and nursing schools is more likely attributed to limited faculty and not a lack of student interest. In his words, “the future is bright for health.”

“I would say in general, there’s still a pretty strong demand for traditional areas within health care, some of the niche areas, some of the technical roles and some of the support roles,” Ruder says.

Both AdventHealth and The University of Kansas Health System have taken steps to alleviate stress felt by their staff during this time.

AdventHealth committed to not laying off any clinical staff in 2020. In the years since, they have worked on providing debt-free education to their staff.

They’ve also implemented “serenity rooms” as a space to recharge during long hospital shifts.

KU’s hospital has worked on using technology as an alternative to traditional care in a way that lessens staffers’ workload without devaluing patient experiences.

For those who do not work in health care, it is still possible to support hospitals. Volunteering and donating have always been options––but as far as supporting local healthcare workers after fighting off a pandemic, Ruder says it is important to reject the current narrative of health care being a challenging and heartbreaking field, which resulted from media coverage of Covid-19.

Creek says that support can be as simple as showing thankfulness to your nurses and physicians.

“We have Veterans Day and we have all these different things where we stop and we show gratitude, but I think I think we’ve lost a little of that lately,” Creek says. “So if you’re living in Kansas City and you want to help, just be so grateful to the nurses, the physicians, the caregivers that you have.”

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KANSASCITYMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2022

23

TH E LO O P STATUESQUE

1

There have been forty-six presidents of the nation, but just ten of those men are represented by a statue in the Capitol Rotunda. President Harry Truman’s statue was installed in late September, with George Washington on one side and Ulysses S. Grant on the other.

2

ONE OF TEN:

To make room for the Truman statue in the Rotunda, the statue of Alexander Hamilton was relocated to another part of the Capitol. It’s an interesting choice given Hamilton’s recent surge in notoriety, but it’s easy to argue the Founding Father has been in the room where it happened for long enough.

The statue stands a larger-thanlife seven feet tall (Truman was five-footnine) and weighs a thousand pounds. The granite pedestal it stands on adds three feet and thirteen hundred pounds.

HALF TON:

Among the inscriptions on the pedestal is one of Truman’s favorite phrases, “The Buck Stops Here,” which appeared on a sign in the Oval Office. Truman wanted others to know he wouldn’t pass along blame or tough decisions.

The sign was sent to the White House by a friend who saw one like it while touring a federal prison in Oklahoma and asked the warden to have one made for Truman. Less known is the back of the sign, which reads “I’m from Missouri.”

BIG HARRY DEAL 6 Tru facts about the new statue of President Harry Truman in the Capitol Rotunda

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

24

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

5

BACK OF THE BUCK:

Anyone who’s watched the West Wing is familiar with the “walk and talk.” Creator Aaron Sorkin could have had Truman in mind—he took unguarded daily walks around D.C. He’s depicted in mid-motion by sculptor Tom Corbin.

6

SORKINESQUE:

Fittingly, sculptor Tom Corbin is a KC local—his studio is on Southwest Boulevard, just over a mile from the Missouri state line. You can see his bronzes at the Country Club Plaza, Kauffman Foundation, the Northland’s Children’s Fountain and the UMKC campus.

MADE… NEAR MISSOURI:

A CLAY MODEL MADE IN THE SCULPTING PROCESS, PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TRUMAN LIBRARY INSTITUTE

3 4

H A M I LT O N H U M B L E D :

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WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN NOVEMBER

November

01

GO: The latest Highlights from the Photography Collection is open now through April 30, 2023, in galleries L10 and L11 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Free.

“CRANE” TO SEE

William Klein’s “Yellow Coat + Bus + Crane,” which is among the images in the Nelson’s latest show of highlights from its peerless collection of photography, was originally taken while he was working for Vogue magazine.

That was not his preference, says April Watson, the curator who put together the show.

“Klein really wanted to pursue his own work, and though he was very good at fashion photography, it was not his first love,” she says. In the 1950s, Watson says, photographers weren’t yet treated as artists by the gallery and museum world, so the best photographers of the day worked for magazines out of necessity.

While the images were snapped for magazines, photographers like Klein and his well-known contemporaries Robert Frank and Richard Avedon handled the assignments their own way. Klein, Watson says, “upended the way typical fashion photographs were made,” shunning studios with controlled sets and lighting and instead taking models out into the streets of New York, “using the gritty, everyday realities of the city as a natural backdrop.”

That background adds depth and richness to the very striking “Yellow Coat + Bus + Crane.” The work juxtaposes with another piece from this show, Richard Avedon’s “Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver,” which Avedon shot in Paris in 1955 for Harper’s Bazaar. It’s part of Avedon’s body of work that portends much of contemporary high-end fashion photography. —MARTIN CIZMAR

KANSASCITYMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2022

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Monet & Friends Alive November 1

Starlight Theatre is partnering with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to present Monet and other impressionists’ works in a new way channeling them through “rich, dynamic display of light, color, sound and fragrance.” November 1–December 31. Times vary. Starlight Theatre.

Kevin Hart November 3, 8 pm Stand-up Kevin Hart knows something about checks— any comedian richer than he is spent a decade or more on weekly television. On the Reality Check tour, the pint-sized comedian returns to the road billing himself as “the biggest touring comedian of all time.” It’s telling that promotional clips for the tour depict Hart jumping around amid pyrotechnics but include no jokes. November 3.

8 pm. T-Mobile Center.

Chinatown November 5, 1 pm How do you make a fight over water rights into one of the great films of all time? Write a neo-noir screenplay in the vein of Raymond Chandler, get a talented director, and cast Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway as the leads. November 5. 1 pm. Screenland Armour.

First Fridays at Gallery Bogart Opening November 5 November’s iteration of the monthly First Friday art walk brings a new gallery to the

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05 La Traviata November 5, 7:30 pm

West Bottoms. Gallery Bogart focuses on contemporary Latin American art and picked the West Bottoms because gallery owner Miller Bogart sees the area as “the frontier of the art scene in Kansas City.” For its inaugural show, the gallery will present Dialogo Figurativo by Cuban artist Abel Massot, who lives and works in Havana.

His work “explores the emotional bonds and existentialist questions of the modern human being.”

Opening reception November 5.

4–7 pm. Gallery Bogart, 1400 Union Ave., KCMO.

Whiskey Expo November 5 The second annual Kansas City Whiskey Expo will feature forty distilleries and the chance to learn about the whiskey-making process. As you sip, you can enjoy an appetizer buffet. There will be other spirits offered, but the expo is confident it can find a whiskey for everyone. November 5. 6:30–9 pm. Harrah’s Kansas City Casino & Hotel.

Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata has become a staple of opera since its premiere in March 1853 in Venice.

The classic tragedy follows Violetta Valéry, a famed French courtesan, and the hopeless romantic who falls in love with her, bringing them both to ruin. Lyric Opera will perform the piece in the original Italian with English subtitles.

November 5, 7:30 pm; November 11, 7:30 pm; November 13, 2 pm.

Kauffman Center.

Katt Williams November 11, 8 pm Katt Williams has the kind of flawless delivery and all-encompassing persona that can only come from working comedy clubs for decades.

His new Netflix special includes a hilarious and profane defense of “big daddy” President Joe Biden who “be doing the best he can.” November 11. 8 pm. T-Mobile Center.

Legally Blonde: The Musical November 12, 4 pm The story of a California sorority girl turned top-of-her class Harvard law student, in a role made famous

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY RESPECTIVE VENUES

W H AT YO U WA N T TO D O T H I S M O N T H

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the women leaning into The Chicks and Dolly Parton. “We gave ourselves permission to lean into the music that raised us and write the kind of classic timeless songs that we both grew up singing along to,” Williamson told Stereogum. This show marks the end of a national tour.

November 19. 8 pm.

Knuckleheads Saloon.

Carrie Underwood November 13, 7:30 pm

One of the most successful country crossover acts of all time, Carrie Underwood’s new record, Denim & Rhinestones, has a throwback feel and enough melodrama to carry an arena tour.

November 13. 7:30 pm. T-Mobile Center.

by Reece Witherspoon, gets the Broadway musical treatment in this nationally touring production. November 12. 4 pm and 8 pm. Midwest Trust Center.

Festival Fever November 18, 5 pm Overland Park’s annual Mayor’s Holiday Festival is back this month with an evening full of train rides, hayrides, live reindeer, a performance and Santa.

The free entry is a perfect way to kick off the holiday season. Make sure to bring your family and friends for a festive night. November 18. 5–8 pm. Downtown Overland Park.

Footprints November 18, 7 pm This showing is part of a series of screenings of four movies discussed in writer Kier-La Janisse’s influential House of Psychotic Women, “an autobiographical topography of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films.”

Footprints follows a freelance translator who wakes one morning missing all memory of her past three days. It’s described as among “the most criminally underseen giallo of the ’70s.”

November 18. 7 pm. Stray Cat Film Center.

Reba McEntire November 18, 7:30 pm With fifty-plus top ten hits, a sitcom and a successful Broadway run, Oklahoma-bred country singer and actress Reba McEntire has done about everything there is to do. She can play an hour or two of nothing but No.1 hits and will close the show, as she always does, with “Fancy.” November 18. 7:30 pm. T-Mobile Center.

Mavis Staples November 18, 7:30 pm Legendary R&B/gospel singer Mavis Staples, is in her early eighties, but can belt out songs from across a catalog that now stretches over eight decades with intensity and grace.

November 18. 7:30 pm. Lied Center in Lawrence.

Plains November 19, 8 pm Plains is a project from Overland Park resident Katie Crutchfield (better known as Waxahatchee) and LA-based singer-songwriter Jess Williamson. Their collaborative album, I Walked With You A Ways, released last month, finds

Big Dad Energy Recording November 23, 7:30 pm Jamie Campbell started his career in Chicago but now lives in KC, where he’s a member of the KC Improv Company and a fixture in the local comedy scene. His show Big Dad Energy debuted at the Kansas City Fringe Festival earlier this year and was a hit, so now he’s putting it on tape. The show is advertised as PG-13 and will be recorded at the Bird Comedy Theater the night before Thanksgiving (a.k.a. the second busiest bar night of the year). A friendly reviewer called the Fringe Festival production of the show “possibly the most positive stand-up act in existence.”

November 23. 7:30 pm. The Bird Comedy Theater.

A Christmas Carol November 18– December 24 Charles Dickens’ all-time Christmas classic tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemption through visits from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. KC Repertory Theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol creates generations of memories and helps families of the meaning of the season.

November 18 through December 24, KCRep Spencer Theatre.

Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony November 25, 9 am While a celebrity guest gets the honor of turning on the lights in Country Club Plaza, the city’s mayor gets the honor at Crown Center.

Mayor Quinton Lucas will light up a hundred-foot tall pine tree from Oregon to kick off the busiest shopping day of the year. November 25. 9 am. Crown Center Square.

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Plaza Lighting Ceremony November 24, 5 pm Kansas City’s ultimate holiday tradition, the Plaza Lighting Ceremony, finds a celebrity guest throwing the switch to light up the century-old shopping district on the evening of Thanksgiving.

The tradition started just after thePlaza opened and is now in its ninety-third year. There’s also holiday music and fireworks.

November 24. 5-8 pm.

Country Club Plaza

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SECOND BITES Nigella Lawson defends brown food and anchovies while getting philosophical.

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

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I G E L L A L A W S O N ’ S N E W B O O K , Cook, Eat, Repeat, opens with a rapturous love letter to anchovies.

“Few other ingredients arrive in the kitchen with such confrontational pungency and yet manage to imbue so many dishes with transformational subtlety,” Lawson writes. “The anchovy’s initial attack lies in its fierce and uncompromising saltiness, it’s true, but it packs a double punch: After that first hit of saline intensity comes richness and depth, that resounding, flavor-enhancing savouriness we have learned to call umami.”

Lawson’s praiseful prose concerning the divisive tinned fish continues on for two thousand words without ever dragging thanks to the English food writer’s luscious, sophisticated voice on the page.

“I could probably have written twenty thousand [words on anchovies],” Lawson says by phone in advance of her engagement at Midwest Trust Center this month, which will be hosted by local food writer Jenny Vergara. “It’s a pointless thing to try and bully people about ingredients they don’t like, but if you can somehow contaminate them with your enthusiasm so that they think ‘well, maybe I want to try,’ that’s better.”

Lawson was thirty-eight years old when her breakthrough, How to be a Domestic Goddess, was published in 1998. She’s one of a very small handful of food writers of the era who are still writing cookbooks a quarter-century later. Cook, Eat, Repeat was written in 2019, before the pandemic, but if it feels of the era because Lawson spent four months writing it in seclusion. It was, Lawson says, a time to be reflective.

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“Cooking is not something you do and then it’s finished with,” Lawson writes.

“It is a thread woven through our lives, encompassing memory, desire and sustenance, both physical and emotional. It can never be an end in itself… It is precisely in those many mindless, mundane, repeated actions that cooking consists of, that allows it to be a means of decompression for so many of us.”

Lawson has come to believe that people are “losing sight” of what recipes are, so she memorialized her philosophy on the matter as part of a writing process in which she would “every now and then ask my publisher for more pages.”

“I’m always aware of how rigid the recipe looks when it’s printed out,” she says. “A recipe is really how you’ve cooked this before. And you cook it again, but really when you cook it you change it a little bit, maybe because of what you get at the market but maybe just because these things are not fixed for all time. The open-endedness of cooking I think is what draws a lot of us back in. You have to talk readers through it a bit so it becomes clear what can be changed or what might be difficult to change or why you’re using a particular ingredient because then it gives the reader more freedom to change.”

Talking readers through anchovies or stews, which get the spotlight in the chapter “A Loving Defense of Brown Food,” requires a skillful pen. Lawson certainly has that—fans of Domestic Goddess and Nigella Bites will find her as sharp as ever in Cook, Eat, Repeat.

“I went into recipe-writing partly through a love of language, and I feel that language and words are a very important ingredient because that’s what helps a reader imagine what a dish is before they’ve actually made it,” she says. “A recipe has to take root in the imagination as well as being practical and reliable.”

You’ll also find very on-trend recipes such as an oxtail stew—not that Lawson knew about the recent American foodie obsession with the butcher’s cut. “I’ve had oxtail recipes in a few books,” she says.

“It’s quite funny: In my first book, I had a recipe for kale in it. This was 1998 and I said, ‘Isn’t it such a pity that no one cooks with kale anymore.’”

GO: An Evening with Nigella Lawson. Saturday, November 19.

8 pm. Yardley Hall at Midwest Trust Center. $25.

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED

T H E B E AT D OM E ST IC G ODDE S S

Holiday in the

Ozarks Springfield Is Aglow this Holiday season!

Experience memory-making activities sure to make this season extra special. Kick off your holiday in the Ozarks at the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden’s annual Gardens Aglow, then warm up with a hand-crafted brew on the Ozarks Coffee Trail. Be sure to include a showing of Springfield Ballet’s The Nutcracker—the perfect addition to a family holiday tradition!

We love our city during every season, so come see us in Springfield...we’ll show you around!

Point your smartphone camera at this QR code to find out more about things to do in Springfield.

SWINGING IN COLUMBIA ‘We Always Swing’ Jazz Series to bring Bill Charlap, Joel Ross, Samara Joy and others to Columbia

BY N I N A C H E R R Y

S

I N C E 1 9 9 5 , T H E “ W E A LW AY S S W I N G ” Jazz Series based in Columbia has been bringing internationally renowned jazz legends to Central Missouri.

“At its heart, the series is an education project,” says Jon Poses, the executive and artistic director. “We want more people to be aware of how great this art form is so that more people want to learn about it, experience it and understand it.”

It had a slow start: “We had thirteen season tickets during the first season,” Poses says.

Now, tickets often sell out far in advance as jazz giants play venues big and small across town. The series has not only gained a following locally but also brought regional jazz fans to Columbia.

This month, the Jazz Series showcases pianist Bill Charlap’s trio. The New York-based modern jazz legend comes to Columbia after a recent residency at The Village Vanguard and a tour in Europe. Charlap will perform a matinee and evening performance one day only, and you won’t be able to hear him in KC or St. Louis.

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The bulk of the series’ performances—including the Bill Charlap trio—are hosted at Murry’s, a locally beloved restaurant located in a small strip mall, and one of the only jazz clubs in the city. But for bigger names and large ensembles, which includes postbop vibraphonist Joel Ross, performances are often held at the Missouri Theatre or The Blue Note.

While the “We Always Swing” Series does have some overlap with the Folly Theater’s Jazz Series, which includes saxophonist Tia Fuller and trumpeter Hermon Mehari this season, “We Always Swing” brings in plenty of acts you won’t be able to see in KC, notably the up-and-coming vocalist Samara Joy on May 7, who is just twenty-two and quickly making big waves with her latest album Linger Awhile.

The series programming is a balancing act, one with variety at the forefront. You’ll find young musicians and seasoned veterans, vocalists and instrumentalists, small combos and larger ensembles, and an unlistable array of subgenres among each season.

But regardless of who or what is playing, one thing remains the same: The artistry is top tier. “We don’t try to dumb it down,” Poses says.

The “We Always Swing” Jazz Series is reliably world-class––and is worth the drive to CoMo. GO: Bill Charlap Trio, Sunday, November 13. Performances at 3:30 and 7 pm. Murry’s, 3107 Green Meadows Way, Columbia.

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED

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ANTHOLOGY OF OLATHE

Pumpkin Spice Cake Day Tuesday, November 15 All Day Long With gratitude this Thanksgiving, come for a tour and pick up a made-from-scratch cake in a jar! It’s a great way to get to know the residents and staff of our distinctive independent living, assisted living and memory care community.

This will be a socially distanced event. Masks required.

RSVP REQUIRED! 913-270-0520 Continue Your Life Story With Us ANTHOLOGY OF OLATHE

101 W. 151st St. / Olathe, KS Independent Living Assisted Living / Memory Care

AnthologyKansasCity.com

T WO HOL IDAY S H O P P I NG EVENT S

On e Festive Weekend FRIDAY, NOV. 18 5 TO 9 P.M. Shop from local small vendors with live music in the air and a glass of wine or coffee in hand

SUNDAY, NOV. 20 • 10 A.M. TO 2 P.M. Charming crafts by kid entrepreneurs

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C U R AT I N G A B E A U T I F U L L I F E

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATALEA BONJOUR

A little over a year ago, Trisha Xue (@coolaunttrish) did her first pop-up selling vintage clothing and included some old crochet items her mom had made over the years. Soon after, the mom-daughter duo started creating skirts, checkered bags and other popular crochet items, and the brand Cool Aunt Trish was born.

Xue says her business grew thanks to the high-in-demand Marlow Mei crocheted skirt named after her niece, Mei, which means “beautiful” in Mandarin. We think the crocheted skirts are the perfect cozy garment this fall. Paired with a fitted top, belt and your favorite chunky boot, they make for a comfy, retroinspired look. Keep an eye on Xue’s Instagram for her release of chunky cardigans and balaclavas, which she says are currently in the works. You can find her crochet items and vintage clothing at local popups around Kansas City. —MARY HENN

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THE NEW NORMAL A St. Louis clothing company brings its durable, understated basics to the Country Club Plaza.

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

BEFORE THEY WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL,

the Sansone brothers had their own business. The oldest two of ten children in a suburban St. Louis family, Jimmy and Conrad Sansone started running a summer camp for kids in their neighborhood when Jimmy was twelve and Conrad was eleven.

“We had an efficient peer-to-peer marketing network: our siblings’ friends,” Jimmy says. “We grew up babysitting, so this was really just babysitting on steroids. We basically just babysat them every day for a week and had them play sports.”

The Sansone brothers’ summer camp and other entrepreneurial efforts (sealing driveways, selling poinsettias) eventually landed them in the pages of the St. Louis Business Journal. Their brother Lanran the summer camp after Jimmy and Conrad. The camp’s still going—it was handed down to the three youngest siblings the way other families might pass down a ten-speed.

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The Sansones are still getting ink from the St. Louis Business Journal thanks to their quickly expanding clothing stores, The Normal Brand. The Normal Brand opened a hometown shop in 2019 and quickly expanded with a retail outlet in Nashville and, now, the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City (425 Nichols Road, KCMO, thenormalbrand. com). They just recently opened two more stores, in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood and in Denver.

Jimmy left corporate finance to start the business in his parents’ basement in 2015. Brothers Conrad and Lan joined soon after. As the name implies, the idea is to “make normal clothes better,” with a focus on comfort and quality.

“We grew up in a family with a love of clothes,” Jimmy says. “We were taught that the way you dress is a sign of respect for yourself and the people you meet with. We grew up shopping with our hands—you go into a store and you can feel the quality.”

Fabrics are a big focus of the clothing line. “Most of our fabrics are custom blends,” Conrad says. The “core fabric” is a proprietary poly/cotton/spandex blend they call “Puremeso,” which you’ll find in hoodies ($78), Henleys ($52) and polos ($62). They say it’s “crazy soft” and has a “great drape.”

“We have a huge emphasis on a soft hand and combining that with durability,” Jimmy says. “We want to produce a garment you never want to take off.”

With minimal branding, understated design and the use of durable cotton, The Normal Brand’s pieces stand in sharp contrast to so-called fast fashion.

“We want to help you build an efficient closet where you’re getting a great cost per wear of your styles,” Jimmy says.

“Growing up, when we would shop with our mom, she would say that before you buy something, you need to think about wearing it three different ways so you are building an efficient closet and you’re buying things that you can wear over and over.”

At the store on the Plaza, expect music, candles and a “positive and welcoming atmosphere.” Also, expect to be greeted and helped as you shop.

“There’s actually a huge benefit to being an outsider, which is what we are, to the fashion business,” Jimmy says.

“We might have a very steep learning curve for some things, but we ask some of the same things that maybe our customers would ask.”

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED

From left to right brothers Jimmy, Conrad and Lan Sansone

it’s one thing to put your name on a business. it’s another to put your family in it.

started by mike. now run by his sons. and of course mike. westport | brookside | waldo

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I love history—there’s something about finding old things and making them relevant again that I’ve always loved. When it comes to Eugen, the images were taken in approximately 1890, but seeing them up on a wall today, you wouldn’t know it.

What’s your favorite thing to create?

I’d say acrylic paintings are my favorite to do. It doesn’t matter if it’s abstract, figures or otherwise—there’s something therapeutic about a brush on canvas.

It’s my way to detox from life and be present with myself. Life is my subject matter and sometimes that’s channeling my sad feelings or creating something that makes me smile.

Midwestern artist Corey Green talks about his work, where he finds inspiration and his favorite spots around the city.

BY M A R Y H E N N

when his clever Balloon Vases sold worldwide. The vases use latex balloons framed in acrylic designs to indicate when the water supply for a centerpiece needs to be refreshed.

The Midwestern artist is originally from southeast Kansas, but he studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. While there, Green’s line of vases blew up. With that under his belt, he was able to start his own art company.

However, Green quickly realized he still had much to learn about running a business, so he paused everything and moved to Atlanta to become an art consultant. While there, he designed and produced commercial artwork for hotels across the country.

Green moved back to the Midwest still under a two-year non-compete, so he earned an MBA and pivoted to instructing an internship for the KU School of Business while relaunching his art business, Wayne Studio West (@waynestudiowest), during the pandemic.

We talked to Green about one of his latest collections, what inspires his work and his favorite spots around the city.

COREY GREEN’S ART CAREER TOOK OFF

Where did the concept for your new Eugen collection come from? The concept for the Eugen Collection [which includes photographs of a late nineteenth-century German bodybuilder] started as a collaboration. The gym I joined when I moved to Kansas City [Wellness Warehouse] does several pop-ups, and I became friends with Ashley from MiddlestWest who does custom embroidery. A gym, a bottle of champagne or two and conversations that led to lots of laughter are how the Eugen Collection came to be.

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What do you have in the works currently? I’m currently planning Encounters, a collection that will be more of my personal history with relationships short and long. It’s designed to be a personal reflection on the lasting impressions people have on one another—the good, the bad and the totally messed up.

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Blip Coffee Blip fully embraces originality and doesn’t apologize for what it is. I mean coffee, bikers, hipsters and dogs... but wait, they have cookies! Also, their chai latte is hands down the best that I’ve ever had (I prefer it on ice).

Liberty Memorial If you’ve ever read the history of the sphinx statues that flank either side of the memorial, it’s incredibly impactful.

It’s such a KC staple, but it is something I think every visitor to KC should see and experience. Their rotating works also make it a place to continually go back to since they only have about twenty percent of their collection on display at a given time.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATALEA BONJOUR

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How would you describe your artistic vibe? “Cautiously pushing the boundaries” is how I would describe my artistic vibe. I mean, I put an embroidered modesty leaf over a naked man. It’s suggestive but not offensive. I think straddling that line is fun, makes people pause and hopefully brings a smile to their faces.

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PRIME QUARRY This chateau-inspired home was built entirely with corner-cut Indiana limestone, and that’s just the start of its grandeur.

BY DAW N YA B A R T S C H P H OTO G R A P H Y BY B R Y N N B U R N S

I

for a house to be both truly grand and seriously cozy, yet that is exactly how this almost seventeen-thousand-square-foot home in Leawood feels.

Despite soaring ceilings, marble floors and a dedicated laundry room larger than most bedrooms, there still seem to be plenty of spots perfect to curl up with a book and a cup of tea or sip a cocktail and chat the evening away with a few friends. An alley of trees line the stone driveway leading to the French chateau-inspired home, which is built entirely with corner-cut limestone imported from an Indiana quarry.

Situated on a little more than three wooded acres and abutting Hallbrook Country Club in Tomahawk Creek Estates, the house was designed

by Kansas City architect Wolfgang Trost.

The extensive gardens not only include a pool and large lawn but also winding paths, a creek, bridges, a gazebo, a putting green and a pickleball court. Several wind sculptures by Lyman Whitaker dot the grounds.

It is obvious that the home was built with both family life and entertaining in mind. Constructed a little over twenty years ago, the owners, who wish to remain anonymous, have delighted in sharing it with friends and family.

T DOESN’T SEEM POSSIBLE

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1 THE FOYER The homeowners are lovers and collectors of art, and it’s apparent as soon as you walk through the double doors into the massive whitemarbled entry hall.

A life-size and extremely realistic sculpture of a man dressed as a butler instantly catches the eye.

Created by a friend and made with a polymer resin, the sculpture is so realistic that it requires a double take. Then to the right, an oversized, limited-edition book of famed photographer Annie Leibovitz by art book publisher Taschen sits on a specially designed stand, becoming a work of art in its own right. This is all taken in before the eye gets pulled up to a massive spherical chandelier made of tiny glass circles. The foyer opens up directly to a massive hallway that leads to all areas of the house and straight to the dining room ahead and a wall of windows framing the garden beyond.

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2 THE LIBRARY The library, which also serves as an office with a hidden bathroom, bar and spiral staircase in the corner, seems as if it came right out of the Wayne Manor of Batman fame. The staircase leads to a second-story dressing room adjacent to the primary bedroom.

Everything an office should or could have seems to be here—there’s a large fireplace flanked by deep leather chairs, a custom-designed L-shaped desk, a billiard table and a builtin fish tank.

The wood-paneled bar is set off in an alcove with an elaborate bronze-hued tin ceiling. Black and gold Art Decoinspired wallpaper and African mahogany hardwood floors with matching wood moldings and built-in bookshelves make it feel as if you’re in a private city club where a three-piece jazz band would play.

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3 CEILING MURAL One of the home’s showstoppers is a circular ceiling mural of a vibrant sky above the family staircase toward the back of the house. It’s a hidden gem that not everyone might get the chance to see.

Handpainted by married artists John Hulsey and Ann Trusty, the swirling mural of blues and golden clouds adds a bit of unexpected drama. Small LED lights were installed throughout the mural to mimick stars in the form of constellations.

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4 HEARTH ROOM

The kitchen opens up to a traditional “hearth room.”

Its dramatic vaulted ceiling is lined with skylights that have been fitted with retractable shades.

Between the skylights and a wall of windows looking out over the back terrace and pool, the space is filled with light.

Adjoining the hearth room is a second dining area with a fireplace and French doors leading out to a walled stone courtyard for a little al fresco dining if the mood strikes.

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5 LIVING ROOM The living room is large and gracious, with light pouring in from floor-to-ceiling windows that offer views of the garden. Holding court in one corner of the room is a grand piano that was given as a gift when the owners’ first son was born.

Everyone in the family plays and loves music. A sound-proof music room was built on the lower level.

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6 K ITCHEN Recently updated, the kitchen is a study in white. Large rectangular marble tiles make up the backsplash and reach to the ceiling.

And although the homeowner laughs that not much cooking is done in the gourmet kitchen, she does love the latest kitchen appliances: The space has been outfitted with a wolf range and matching stainless steel hood and warming drawer. A special treat is the built-in Miele coffee station with a cup warmer and milk frother.

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7 PRIMARY BEDROOM AND CLOSETS

The primary suite is bright and airy, with walls of windows and a private balcony. A fireplace serves as the focal point of the bedroom, which connects to a large bathroom with a beverage station. The bathroom connects to his and hers dressing rooms and closets.

8 WINE CELLAR

Stepping into the temperature-controlled wine cellar is like being transported into a private tasting room. The cellar has floor-toceiling built-in wine storage and display areas, a lattice-looking wood ceiling matching the shelving, and leaded glass doors and windows that overlook the main entertaining space.

7

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KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

9 LOWER LEVEL

The lower level is designed for entertaining. Apart from the main entertaining space with a two-tiered movie theater, pool table and open kitchen with a bar station, there is a gym and a full bathroom that includes a sauna and steam shower.

9

8

9

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K A N SA S C I T Y

eG

WORDS MARTIN CIZMAR TAY LO R D R U M M O N D ISABELLA FERRENTINO

OR

A

INSIDE ARROWHEADS TONIEST

TA I L G AT E , T H E S E C R E T H I D I N G S P O T O F T H E W O R L D  S B E S T S TA M P C O L L E C T I O N , T R A F F I C S T O P S O N T H E S TAT E L I N E A N D M O R E Q U I R K S O F KC  S U N I Q U E L ANDMARKS AND L ANDSCAPE

LAUREN FOX

M O L LY H I G G I N S KIM HORGAN

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KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

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K A N SA S C I T Y G E O G R A P H I C

To build the twelve-sided tower at 75th and Holmes, the construction crew continuously poured concrete over two full weeks.

“

WHEN SPORTS TEAMS SAY THEY’RE GOING

TO HAVE THEIR HOME OPENER, THEY GET IN

TOUCH WITH US TO MAKE SURE OUR TOWER IS COLORED LIKE ALL THE REST OF THE OTHER

A once-crumbling landmark is now a beloved part of life in South KC.

BY MOLLY HIGGINS

HEN THE WALDO WATER TOWER came online a century ago, it was groundbreaking. At a capacity over a million gallons, the tower (technically called the Frank T. Riley Memorial) was one of the largest anywhere in 1920. It also served as one of the earliest models of a continuously poured, steel-reinforced concrete structure. The one-hundred-andthirty-four-foot tower provided water to thousands of homes in south KC until it was retired by the water department in 1957.

After a few years of no use, the landmark tower succumbed to graffiti and disrepair. At one point, the body of a missing twenty-year-old man was found inside. Workers used a jackhammer to break a hole at the bottom of the structure to recover the body, and for years the patched hole remained visible.

Although the Waldo Water Tower is its neighborhood’s most notable landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places, it sat crumbling for decades. Rust and deterioration had caused major structural problems that would cost an estimated one million dollars to fix. The project seemed impossible until Kurtis Marinez, founder of the Waldo Tower Historic Society,

W

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KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

DOWNTOWN AREA.”

rallied supporters. Through advocacy and fundraising, the group eventually had the funds to restore Tower Park in 2015. The tower had its concrete patched and got a new roof and a fresh coat of paint. To cap it off, the group installed a lighting system to make the tower feel like an attraction.

“When sports teams say they’re going to have their home opener, they get in touch with us to make sure our tower is colored like all the rest of the other structures in the downtown area,” says Angie Lile, a member of the Waldo Tower Neighborhood Association, which also advocated for restoration.

Tower Park has seen improvements recently as well with park beautification and renovation of the baseball diamond.

The neighborhood association has also held movie nights in the newly revamped park, with the lit Waldo Water Tower being the star attraction—a reminder of the community’s passion to improve a once-forgotten neighborhood landmark.

“The lighting was a big deal because we wanted it to be like a landmark in the neighborhood,” Lile says. “What neighborhood doesn’t want something cool like that?”

P H O TO G R A P H Y B Y K I M H O R G A N

THERE’S WALDO

STRUCTURES IN THE

A LITTLE ‘BIRDIE’ TOLD ME 7 striking facts about KC’s iconic shuttlecocks

BY TAYLOR DRUMMOND

01

The shuttlecocks on the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins art museum are a massive eighteen feet high and fifteen feet in diameter, fifty-seven times the size of a standard shuttlecock. Each of the feathers weighs four hundred and sixty pounds, and each birdie weighs two and a half tons. A statue of an average American man made to the scale of the shuttlecocks would be more than three hundred feet high, twice the size of the Statue of Liberty itself.

02

Though seemingly scattered randomly across the lawn, the four birdies were placed strategically by their creators. Each one has landed in a different position— whether that be teetering on the tip of a feather or balancing on the orange base—to create the illusion that a game of badminton was left mid-game by giants who used the museum as a net.

04

The inspiration for these sculptures came from a Frederic Remington painting housed in the museum that showed the feathered headdresses of Native Americans. The artists initially conceptualized large feathers scattered along the grass before settling on the birdies.

03

Birdie artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen are known for other large everyday objects scattered all over the world, from their “Free” stamp in Cleveland to a sculpture of balancing tools in Germany. The two sculptors began work together in the mid70s and placed the shuttlecocks in July of 1994.

06

When originally placed on the lawn, these modern art pieces were not wellreceived. “Many people were skeptical about the idea that a common, everyday object could be art, especially if it was inflated to a largerthan-life size,” Rudolph says. “Now, years later, I think we all realize that art can be accessible. It doesn’t have to be something formal and esoteric.”

05

After their placement, the shuttlecocks were dismantled and reinstalled once, in 2002, when they were repainted.

“We’re always keeping an eye on their condition,” says William Keyse Rudolph, who oversees their preservation at the museum as the deputy of curatorial affairs.

07

In 2014, some local sports fans believed the shuttlecocks might be responsible for the dry spell in major wins for local sports teams after 1994, when the birdies were placed. Then, KC started winning. “Art is powerful and can be incredibly motivating,” Rudolph says, suggesting that perhaps the 2016 gift of the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Art broke the curse.

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

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We Updated A 1962 Plaza Map

IN MIL L PARK

Along with Halls and Jack Henry, was one of the three anchors for the Plaza for many years. The posh retailer was a destination for luxury apparel and accessories

Swanson’s

In the heyday of teenage car culture, Sidney’s was a burger and malt shop like nearby rival Winstead’s.

Sidney’s closed in 1974. The site was redeveloped into Country Club Bank.

Sidney’s Diner

For more than a century, KC was home to its own commodity futures and options exchange, which specialized in hard-red winter wheat. Redeveloped into loft apartments.

Board of Trade

Renamed in 2020 with the support of the Plaza developer’s heirs because of Nichols’ role in segregating the city.

J.C. Nichols Parkway and Fountain

This fine dining restaurant was reputed to be the best in the city during the fifties and sixties and, according to a period postcard, “smartly and attractively decorated in the manner of old New Orleans.”

A 1966 menu archived by the Culinary Institute of America shows everything from pan-fried calf livers to an Indian curry. The Flaming Ham Mandarin was ham in a

Putsch’s 210 Restaurant

At one time, a bank with drivethru service was a novelty. That time was, of course, 2022.

Drive-In Bank

Opened in 1930, this bank merged with Commerce in 1984.

Plaza Bank

Furrier Donald Gerhardt’s shop closed when he retired in 1994.

Gerhardt’s

buyers throughout the Midwest.

This real estate company launched the first national real estate catalog in 1928, aiming to help “out-ofarea and urban buyers locate hard to find, more remote properties.”

United Farm Agency

This local department store traced its roots all the way back to the city’s Westport Landing days when it outfitted settlers headed west. It closed in 1968.

Emery, Bird, Thayer

The casual cousin to Putsch’s 210 was a family-style cafeteria owned by the same family.

A period postcard describes the interior as having “California modern architecture.”

Putsch’s Cafeteria

mandarin orange sauce set on fire with orange curacao liqueur and then served over wild rice for $3.75.

The Plaza location of a Chicago-based department store.

Rothschild’s

The third concept from the Putsch family, this was the first European-style coffee shop and cafe in KC. Today, not much has changed at the Classic Cup.

Sidewalk Cafe

This was an office for the Skelly Oil Company, which merged with Getty Oil in the late seventies.

Skelly

This building, now known as the Plaza Corporate Centre, was not actually completed when this map debuted; it opened a year later. The building looks a lot like One Park Place to the north designed by the same architect.

The exposed exoskeleton stands in stark contrast to the Plaza’s Spanish style.

John Hancock Building

A lot can change in sixty years. Here’s what happened to every landmark on a 1962 map of County Club Plaza.

NEW COUNTRY

K A N SA S C I T Y G E O G R A P H I C

Started as a hat shop in 1904, three

Mindlin’s

This movie theater was among the Plaza’s top attractions in the early days before closing in 1999 while facing competition from the more modern Cinemark. The space was gutted when the ironically named Restoration Hardware took over.

Theater Building

The Longhorn Bar and Trail House had menus shaped like a cowboy readying to draw. There were eight dishes, including tacos you eat with a fork and a hot prime rib sandwich.

Trail House

generations of Mindlin’s ran the family’s chain of stores including this one, the first women’s specialty shop on the Plaza.

19 62

Halls

A department store known for its line of ready-to-wear ladies’ clothing.

Chasnoff’s

Halls on the Plaza didn’t open until 1965. The department store was by far the most ornate in the city’s history with its inlaid Lapis floors and Baccarat crystal chandeliers. The store was closed fifty years later, as Halls moved to Crown Center.

Opened in 1940, this thirtytwo-lane alley installed the first automatic pinsetters in 1954—before that people reset after each frame. A local TV show, Bowlin’ with Molen, was shot here

Plaza Bowl

Now Sephora, and before that Brooks Brothers dating back to 1980. At the time it was likely Woolworth’s.

Esplanade Building

A standalone specialty store from Sears specializing in tractors,

Sears Farm Store

Now managed

by Genesis.

Public pays $16 an hour.

Public Tennis Courts

Harzfeld’s Founded downtown in 1891 as Parisian Cloak Company at a time when ready-to-wear women’s clothing was basically unheard of, The Harzfeld’s chain was part of life in KC for almost a century.

Sears

milkers and corn shellers.

This branch of venerable national department store Sears was said to be the company’s first suburban shopping center location.

It included a garden store and auto repair shop.

and aired for fifteen years.

K A N SA S C I T Y G E O G R A P H I C

“

WATCHING PEOPLE’S REACTIONS AND

WHAT THEY LIKE AND GRAVITATE TOWARDS IS

ALWAYS ALWAYS FUN.”

–SUZANNE GUNNING

BEER TOUR

Discovering all the tidbits about your local city has never been easier with these unique Kansas City tours.

This tour offers drink recommendations and a designated driver all in one. Guests can pick up to three locations from a list and spend about an hour at each one. It’s mainly focused on microbreweries, but you can request wineries and distilleries.

Guests are on their own once they are at the location (and drinks at each location are not included in the tour price). The driver will come to hang out, take pictures and answer any kind of questions that the group might have about the area. “What’s attractive about our tours is that the groups enjoy hanging out with themselves and having a good time,” says owner Matt McKinnie. “Instead of having someone talking to them the entire time, they’re able to enjoy the group that they’re with.”

BY ISABELLA FERRENTINO

$300 for 10 or fewer people, 4 hours.

Saturdays 1–9:30 pm. kcbeertour.com.

TOUR DE KC

PROHIBITION TOUR Kansas City was one of the wettest cities in America even during the Prohibition era. Taste of Kansas City Food Tours takes you back to the era of illicit alcohol with the help of four stops where guests are served either a Prohibition-style cocktail or the stop’s signature drink, plus a little pizza at the end to soak it all up. The tour includes a deep history of how Boss Tom Pendergast’s mafia operation maintained its power. “It’s an experience as opposed to the transportation of being bused from a distillery or brewery from place to place,” tour guide Rebekah Bloom says. $96, 3.5 hours. Saturdays 4:30–8 pm. tasteofkansascityfoodtours.com.

FOODIE TOUR This tour includes five to six stops for local food staples like barbecue and tacos. The rotation of restaurants changes but tends to be meat-centric. “It’s definitely a carnivore tour,” Bloom says. “If you’re a vegetarian, this is probably not the tour for you.” $82, 3 hours. Thursdays–Saturdays 1–4 pm. tasteofkansascityfoodtours.com.

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KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

Here’s a tour in Kansas City that has a personal touch. Laura Miller, a local tour guide, has walking tours throughout Kansas City, one of which is the Walking Mural and Graffiti Tour. The tour, which takes place in the west and east Crossroads, is about a three-mile walk that is not only mobility-accessible but family-friendly.

Miller can customize the tour to her guests if need be.

“The content is constantly changing,” Miller says. “There are always new murals that are popping up. It’s thought-provoking, and there’s a lot of conversations, like ‘What do you think the artist was thinking about?

How does this mural speak to you?’” $50, 2 hours. By appointment. Contact Laura Miller through toursbylocals.com.

DISTILLERY TOUR J. Rieger’s Distillery Tour takes guests behind the scenes of their distillery—with

P H O TO G R A P H Y P R O V I D E D

GRAFFITI & MURAL TOUR

POLICING THE LINE

an included tasting, of course. Dating back to 1887 with a resurrection in 2014, J. Rieger marked eight years of Kansas City whiskey in October. The tour begins with a ten-minute film about the company’s and Kansas City’s history. Tour guides will take the guests onto the production floor with four operating stills so they can get up close and personal with whiskey, gin and vodka production. Then they head off to see the barrel-aging process of over three thousand whiskey barrels. The tour concludes with a tasting of Rieger & Co.’s four core spirits. You can discover three more bars outside the tasting room and a forty-foot slide, too. “In a world right now where the craft spirits market is so vast, being able to find this genuine story about a family and how we resurrected it I think is my favorite part of who we are,” says staffer Andi Ryan.

literally right down the middle of State Line road, but as you get further south, the state line is actually on the Missouri side of State Line road,” says Sgt. Jacob Becchina of the KCMO police. Generally, cops are responsible for accidents or infractions in their own state.

$20, 1 hour. Times vary daily. jriegerco.com/ tourjriegerco.

CRIMINALS CAN’T COUNT ON CONFUSION (ANYMORE). In the old days, when Becchina was working the beat,

GANGSTER TOUR This tour is narrated by a costumed gangster on board the tour bus. The tour starts at Union Station with the Kansas City massacre and makes its way through Kansas City’s gangster past. The gangster tour guides are well-versed, far beyond the script, with ten to twenty years of experience. “A local who might know a lot of the story learns a lot more by seeing it all together in one,” says Terry O’Toole, the company’s GM. “A gangster historian telling you a true-life story that comes across like a novel makes it unique in so many ways.” $29, 1.5 hours. Saturdays 10 am–2 pm. kansascitytransportationgroup.com.

COFFEE TOUR Staying awake during a tour couldn’t be easier with The Roasterie tour. It delves into the company’s thirty years of history and the origin of coffee and coffee roasting.

A coffee sampling is included in the tour.

“There’s no wrong way to drink coffee,” says staffer Suzanne Gunning. “Watching people’s reactions and what they like and gravitate towards is always always fun.” $5, free for children under 10. 1 hour. Mondays– Fridays 10 am-noon, Saturdays 8 am–noon. theroasterie.com.

Busting myths on how Kansas and Missouri cops bust people while working near the state line

IT STARTS WITH KNOWING WHERE THE MISSOURI-KANSAS LINE ACTUALLY IS. “Part of the state line is

KCMO cops could not radio over to a KCK cop parked across the street. Instead, they would have to call their dispatcher who would call the dispatcher on the other side of the line and patch the calls together. “We were on totally different radio systems,” he says. “There’s now a regional communication channel that we can switch to.”

COPS FROM EITHER KANSAS OR MISSOURI CAN PULL YOU OVER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STATE LINE. Contrary to urban legend, it’s possible for a police officer

to pull someone over on the other side of the state line. “Let’s say there’s a car going down Bannister Road approaching the state line and they commit a traffic violation,” Becchina says. “[Leawood PD] may not have a good place to pull them over until they’re on the Missouri side, and that’s allowed.”

COPS CANNOT WALK SOMEONE BACK ACROSS THE LINE. Officers can issue a summons across the state line. If

the charge is a potential felony, officers need to have the suspect held. They cannot, under any circumstances, walk someone across the state line. Instead, they must ask for the suspect to be “held” while they work on filing charges. “The criminal has to go before a judge for an extradition hearing,” Becchina says.

KANSAS AND MISSOURI POLICE OFFICERS NOW WORK TOGETHER ON BIG EVENTS. A new “mutual aid”

agreement covers twenty-two municipalities from opposite sides of the state line and applies to occasions that call for a large-scale police presence, like natural disasters and sporting events. At the Super Bowl parade, for example, officers from Kansas arrested people for fighting inside of Missouri and had them booked into a Missouri jail. “That’s new in the last few years,” Becchina says.

“They do have arrest powers and all that through the mutual aid agreement if they’re acting under it.” —Martin Cizmar

QuikTrip once tore down a location on Southwest Boulevard and rebuilt it just a hundred feet east to escape Kansas alcohol laws and get lower taxes on cigarettes and gas.

KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

59

LOTS GOING ON A map of who to look for tailgating at Arrowhead Stadium INTEL FROM LYNN “WEIRDWOLF” SCHMIDT AND JOHN STONER

LOT GUI DE LOT C

LOT D

LOT G

RAIDER WILLY

THE CLAY COUNTY OF ARROWHEAD

SUPERCHAINZ AND CO. (NORTHEAST)

Raider Willy is, “This is kind of the Clay Co as his name Mo of tailgating,” John implies, a Stoner says. “Working folks, fan of the down to earth, like to crush itinerant Raiders some beers.” franchise. But, says Lynn “Weirdwolf” Schmidt, he’s LOT F been coming to GRAY FLEECE VEST ZONE Chiefs games Stoner—who works at “longer than most Cerner—thinks of some of Chiefs fans.” He his co-workers when he picmarried a Chiefs tures Lot F on the southwest fan, Jody Burns, side of the stadium. “Half right there in the guys are wearing the lot. “I was Sperrys and North Face her best man,” jackets,” he says.

Weirdwolf KANSASsays.

CITY NOVEMBER 2022 60

This party is thrown by 515 Tailgate, an Iowa area code that reflects the crew coming from the Des Moines area. “This is Sam ‘SuperChainz’ Vasquez’s party,” Weirdwolf says.

“They throw a heck of a party with multiple tents and jamming music.”

THE OUTLAW CIGARSMOKING SECTION (SOUTHWEST)

In Lot G you’ll also find a group that met through Outlaw Cigar, a cigar shop and lounge with three locations in south JoCo and the Northland (the North KC location even has its own brewery).

“Good older dudes,” Weirdwolf says.

LOT J HYPE LOT

“Lot J is that one friend that’s always hyping up every party like it’s going to be the biggest party in history,” Stoner says. However, the lot does allow campers, which in the depths of winter makes it “a special piece of real estate.”

LOT M BOARDWALK

“This is Boardwalk on the Monopoly board,” Stoner says. “That’s where the club-level guys enter—a lot of nice vehicles over there. If you’re going to see a Rolex in the parking lot, it’s going to be over there.”

K A N SA S C I T Y G E O G R A P H I C

DOES THE WEATHER CHANGE WHEN YOU CROSS THE MISSOURI RIVER? According to local lore, there is a difference in the weather north and south of the Missouri River. In general, folks tend to think it’s a bit warmer south and it snows slightly more in the north. But is it true?

“There can be (a difference),” says Joe Lauria, meteorologist for Fox 4.

But it’s not always—it’s sometimes.

For instance, Lauria points out that the south side, which he tends to describe as mainly as below Interstate 70, was drier this past July than the north side. “It was a stark comparison, really,” Lauria says. “The dryness impacted the highs. Where the terrain is lush and green, it doesn’t heat up as much. Where it’s brown and dormant, there’s a higher potential of hotter air.”

July was mild at Kansas City International Airport in the Northland, the official weather reporting station for Kansas City—only .9 degrees above average. “In the big scheme of things, nothing too crazy,” Lauria says. “On the south side, though, Olathe Executive Airport had temperatures 3.1 degrees above average, a significant difference from north to south.”

The average high for July at KCI was 89 degrees. The average high for July at Olathe Executive Airport was 91.8 degrees, and the average high for Olathe Industrial Airport toward Gardner was a half-degree higher.

What does this mean during the colder months? Snow totals can vary, Lauria says.

According to Weatherbase.com, which uses data collected over the past thirty-nine years, there are an average of one hundred and three rainy days per year at KCI, and snow averages 18.6 inches. This data can most closely be compared to data collected over the past thirty years from Lee’s Summit in the south. There, the annual number of rainy days comes in at eighty-three, and the average annual snowfall is just over a foot.

—Dawnya Bartsch

GREAT COWS OF KANSAS CITY COW PARADE KC was one of the first cities to participate in this international public arts project.

Local artists, including designer Kate Spade, brought unique touches to the local cows. When the parade moved on to Tokyo and Buenos Aires, some cows stayed, including a Chiefs-themed cow in Brookside and another at the Plaza Library.

THE HEREFORD BULL In the middle of an otherwise ordinary park, a bull named Bob gazes out at Kansas City—ninety feet in the air.

Bob, which stands for “Bull on Building,” first made his appearance in 1954 outside the American Hereford Association’s former headquarters. Now, Bob sits on a pedestal above Mulkey Square Park. Bob weighs two tons and is over eleven feet tall. He is made out of fiberglass and polyester resin over a steel frame.

JESS AND JIM’S MOOING COW Jess and Jim’s Steakhouse in

Martin City is known for its meat— both on the plate and on the roof.

Since 1981, a large cow has decorated the top of the restaurant. You can hear the cow moo by pushing a red button on the restaurant’s patio.

KAMADHENU, THE WISH-GRANTING COW For

a cow with a lot of history, go see Kamadhenu, a centuries-old sculpture on display at the Nelson-Atkins.

Kamadhenu is the wish-granting cow of ancient and medieval India.

The sculpture is hollow and “it appears that the cow was intended to literally offer milk,” according to the museum’s description.

THE DAIRY BARN AT DEANNA ROSE Looking for a cow

a bit more, well, alive? Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead hosts a cow milking demonstration twice a day at its Dairy Barn. Visitors can also practice their own milking skills on a pretend training cow or by using a series of buckets filled with water with rubber nipples attached to them.

JACK STACK BULL One local

bull that gets a lot of love is outside Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue on the Plaza. When Jack Fiorella branched off from his father’s barbecue business and started his own venture, he implemented bull statues outside his restaurants. The bull on the Plaza is one of the original bulls, and its nose is gold from being rubbed so often by passers-by. —Lauren Fox

DEPTHS OF KC Five unexpected things hidden in local limestone caves

BY TAYLOR DRUMMOND

A

BOVE THE SURFACE, there are plenty of places to explore in Kansas City, but few know what lies below their feet—as deep as one hundred and sixty feet below, in fact. The limestone shelf that Kansas City sits on and the rivers and springs that flow here have built a network of limestone caves that have provided storage and businesses for generations. There’s a living city of activity just below our noses. Here are the five unique things you will find in the caves.

01

PAINTBALLERS FIRING AWAY Home to the first and only

02

THE WORLD’S BEST STAMP COLLECTION Sitting in the only

underground paintball field in the world, Jaegers Subsurface Paintball (9300 N.E. Underground Drive, KCMO) houses eight of its fields in the Northland, not far from the Ameristar Casino. The novelty of the caves has attracted customers since Jaegers opened in 1994, says marketing manager Erick Eaton. Each field has various obstacles, including oil drums, paint-splattered old cars and cave pillars for cover, with the ability to accommodate large teams and hours of underground fun.

underground United States Postal Service facility in the country is the Stamp Fulfillment Services center. Known as the Stamp Cave, it has a collection unlike any other, with millions of rare and commemorative stamps. The

Can you pick the highest place in KCMO? WORDS AND PHOTOS BY KIM HORGAN

The massive caves under KC have 20 million square feet in use by businesses. That’s enough to fit four Mall of Americas or 28 Yankee Stadiums.

cave’s consistent temperatures—around sixty degrees year-round and low humidity—make it a perfect location to maintain quality prior to purchase from collectors all over the world. Because of the stamps’ value, the specific location is top-secret, and a high level of security is in place to guard them.

03

A WINTER ROAD RACE Down in the

04

AN ORIGINAL PRINT FROM YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE The original film

05

A DISTILLERY Underneath Parkville is a

caves, there is no trace of the harsh Kansas City chill during the winter months. Instead, there is a constant fall-like temperature all year long. This makes a perfect location for the Groundhog Run 5K and 10K races put on by Ability KC in January. Participants run through the paved tunnels of the SubTropolis caves (8760 N.E. Underground Drive, KCMO), a company owned by the Hunt family—one of the nation’s wealthiest—whose other holdings include the Chiefs.

reels of beloved movies and television shows are held in Kansas City by a special underground branch of the National Archives (8600 N.E. Underground Drive, KCMO). Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and cartoons from as far back as the 1940s are among the holdings of the Kansas City Federal Records Center.

Without the proper conditions, these classic pieces of history would be lost to a type of film rot called “vinegar syndrome,” according to Jeff Ollenburger, who helps to manage the underground vault and storage. Thanks to the caves, these treasured pieces will be around for future generations. The vault where these timeless pieces lie is not open to the public for security purposes. unique business that few know about—but many have probably tasted their product one time or another. What is deemed by owners Lisa and Steve Strong as “the world’s only known distillery in a cave sixty-five feet underground” comes SD Strong Distilling (8500 N.W. River Park Drive, #136a, Parkville). The company was founded in 2012, first with its signature bottle of vodka and later bourbon, gin and whiskey, all bottled with the slogan “Made in a Cave.”

AND THE HIGHEST SPOT IN KC IS… A

HOSPITAL HILL

B

THE SCOUT

C

WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL

D

155TH & PROSPECT

E

OBSERVATION PARK

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CASE PARK

D. MOUNT PROSPECT: Have you ever described Kansas City to an out-of-town friend and found yourself using the phrase mountainous terrain? Probably not. KC has never been known for its hilly landscape, but it is far from flat. Take a bike ride around the city and you’ll soon discover some challenging hills. Which of these uplands is the highest? We sought the answer to that very question and found that no one really seems to know. After doing online research, we came up with two different answers.

We contacted the KCMO library reference department to clarify, only to receive a link to the same article we started with. An online website lists 73rd and Terrace streets as the city’s highest point, but another article on the same site credits 155th Street and Prospect Avenue with the highest altitude. For clarification, we reached out to a few city departments, but spokespersons for the City Communications Office and Public Works Department didn’t know either. So we set out with our altimeter app and some curiosity to find out for ourselves. You might think the highest point in Kansas City is one of the downtown areas with fantastic skyline views. Turns out, it’s actually 155th and Prospect, on the far southern edge of the city and county, which stands at one thousand and eighty-one feet. The National World War I Memorial is nine hundred and thirty-five feet, and Observation Park is nine hundred forty-two feet.

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THE PARKWAY PUZZLE Can you match Ward Parkwayʼs stone statues with the correct street corners?

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THE HIGH SIGNS The story behind two landmark signs that define KC’s downtown skyline

BY ISABELLA FERRENTINO

OSTON HAS THE CITGO SIGN , Los Angeles has the Hollywood sign, and New York has the jumbotrons of Times Square. In Kansas City, we have Western Auto and Tension Envelopes signs. The city’s downtown skyline is brightened by the iconic silhouettes that have stood for about seventy years and still burn bright—even if most locals can’t tell you exactly what they’re advertising anymore.

Western Auto Company sold automobile parts and eventually expanded and took over the Coca-Cola building in 1951. The well-known sign, which is ten feet tall with an arrow that’s a hundred and fifty feet long and made from thirty tons of steel, came a year later. The sign was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Western Auto closed ten years later.

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Today, the sign sits atop the Western Auto Lofts building. It wasn’t until 2018, with the help of the building’s homeowner association, that the sign once again consistently lit the sky.

The city’s other landmark blinking sign is for a company that’s still in business. The ten-foot “Tension” and eight-foot “Envelopes” sign was erected in 1959, shortly after Tension Envelopes bought the building. Now known as Tension Corporation, the business is one hundred and thirty-three years old and manufactures envelopes, design packaging and automation equipment.

“We continued to keep the sign on the building because we know the pride and heritage behind it,” says Tension Corporation staff member Karen Loggia.

It’s not as simple as leaving it up and flipping a switch every night. During KC’s cold winters, popular signage materials like mercury would coagulate and and create a dim, dull product. Instead, Tension Envelopes’ sign is outlined with clear red neon that was hand-blown for every open channel letter. “It was a very popular color in the day and still is today just because it’s very crisp,” says Eric Pickett, who helps maintain the sign for Infinity Sign Systems.

The current Western Auto sign uses about twenty-five-hundred LED bulbs.

Pickett says you should not expect more iconic signs like them to be built—they’re on a scale that signmakers now shun.

“We’ve been very fortunate to service both of them for decades,” Pickett says. “We probably could not do those signs today.”

The stories behind 16 of Kansas City’s most notable murals

BY MOLLY HIGGINS

CIVIC PRIDE! KANSAS CITY I’M SO IN LOVE 2010 MCGEE ST., KCMO

Sitting on the edge of the Crossroads, painted on the Imagine That! building, this mural by Ruthie Ozonoff is a KC favorite. The blue and gray motif is reminiscent of the Royals colors, and the mural has been serving as the backdrop for countless engagement and couples photos for years.

LOVE KANSAS CITY 421 SOUTHWEST BLVD., KCMO

A super colorful, almost newschool contemporary style by graffiti artist “Scribe” Donald Ross, this wide-spanning mural shows central KC figures like Royals and Chiefs players and jazz musicians in a whimsical cartoon style.

CRAFTED IN KANSAS CITY

SPORTS!

2626 GUINOTTE AVE., KCMO

RAISED ROYAL

Off the beaten path in the East Bottoms, Chris Foxworth’s simple painting on the side of the old Urban Provisions store serves as another perfect photo op for engagement or baby announcements.

4130 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., KCMO

THE MAKER 2601 MADISON AVE., KCMO

Designed by Made in KC’s in-house graphic designer, Grace Cantril, in collaboration with mural artist Rif Raf Giraffe and a handful of Kansas City’s most prominent makers, this hundred-plus-foot passion project serves as a tapestry-like colorful mosaic to celebrate all things Kansas City.

Located on the side of the Sweet Siam Thai Restaurant in Westport, this mural was the creation of the Carpenter Collective, a Kansas City-based design and branding studio led by partners Jessica and Tad Carpenter. It features simple, clean lettering and an ornery-looking baseball in a Royals crown taking a swing.

RAISED ROYAL NO. 1 SOUTHWEST BLVD. AND 25TH ST., KCMO

The first of many Raised Royals designs throughout KC was designed by popular KC muralist Phil “Sike Style” Shafer, who first painted the mural

inside Kauffman stadium in 2015.

Now on display for all of KC, it f eatures a simple design of Royals players in various positions such as swinging and pitching.

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ART EVERYWHERE

MUJER

CAFÉ CORAZÓN, 1721 WESTPORT ROAD, KCMO

RAISED ROYAL NO. 3 421 SOUTHWEST BLVD., KCMO

Painted by “Scribe” D.Ross, this whimsical cartoon character dons Royals swag, including a banner listing the World Series Championship dates, and carries a tiny Slugger mascot in his hand.

culture and community.

The turquoise foreground on the left is the skyline of Kansas City while the dark blue skyline behind it represents Mexico City, a blending of the two places and cultures.

Frida Khalo sits as the focus of the image, surrounded by various countries’ national flowers.

BUCK O’NEIL TRIBUTE PARK 1832 THE PASEO, KCMO

RAISED ROYAL NO. 5 1523 OAK ST., KCMO

Created by KC artist Lance Flores, the geometric pattern of blue and gold spans an entire building facade across the street from the iconic Kansas City Star building.

ALE HOUSE CHIEFS MURAL

The murals by Alexander Austin feature late legendary KC baseball player and coach Buck O’Neil and other Monarchs players whose contributions to KC culture, sports and history are immeasurable.

ALEXANDER AUSTIN’S POWER & LIGHT MURALS 1444 GRAND BLVD., KCMO

After Alexander Austin’s massive eighteen thousandsquare-foot piece that honors important local Black history, the Negro Leagues’ Monarchs and the Jazz District began to be covered by the construction of Two Light, Austin received the opportunity to do a second piece. His one hundred and seventy-five-foot mural honors the Negro League greats like Jackie Robinson.

LEWIS AND CLARK 1804

FIFTH ST. AND WYANDOTTE ST., KCMO

Jose Faus, Alisha Gambino and Jesus Ortiz created this historical mural in 2004, the expedition’s bicentennial. Some artistic liberties were taken, but the scene evokes the sense of adventure and showcases some of the historical figures who explored and camped alongside the Missouri River.

TOWN OF KANSAS 1850

THIRD ST. AND WYANDOTTE ST., KCMO

In a vivid, colorful tribute to Mexican folklórico dancing, this mural portrays various dancers in costumes from different Mexican states and also includes iconic Mexican imagery such as Day of the Dead skeletons.

FACING THE PAST, LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: A KANSAS HMONG STORYCLOTH 751 MINNESOTA AVE., KCK

Faus and Gambino painted this mural after an embroidered Hmong story cloth pattern. Representing modern and traditional Hmong culture through mirror images of work, play and celebration, the designs are inspired by traditional patterns and colors found in the landscapes of Hmong villages.

4128 BROADWAY BLVD., KCMO

One of the most famous Chiefs-themed murals is the massive portrait by Sike Style Industries of Mahomes readying a pass. It’s on the side of Westport Ale House.

CHIEFS KINGDOM MURAL AT TOM’S TOWN DISTILLING CO. 1701 MAIN ST., KCMO

Sike Style displays a colorful celebratory Chiefs mural on the side of KC’s own Tom’s Town Distillery, featuring some of KC’s legendary players from their 2020 Super Bowl win.

HISTORY, POLITICS, AND CULTURE! MUJER

CAFÉ CORAZÓN, 1721 WESTPORT ROAD, KCMO

This stunning mural by Rodrigo Alvarez and Isaac Tapia is an homage to the passion and beauty of Latinx KANSAS CITY NOVEMBER 2022

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NEW BY

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THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO DO IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS,

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ONE OF OUR FAVORITE WEEKEND GETAWAY DESTINATIONS.

WORDS BY MARTIN CIZMAR

NORTHWEST

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he Ozarks are old. The hills of southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas were among the original geographical features on the continent, with some rocks on the ground there having been made upwards of a half-billion years ago.

But grab a stool at the new German beer bar in the booming town of Springdale on a busy Saturday night or make your way down to the ultra-modern coffee shop inside a mountain bike preserve and you’d forgiven for feeling the opposite.

The region that includes Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers and Fayetteville is one of the best weekend road trips from KC. This month, we set out to see some of the new attractions that have popped up since the pandemic.

America might run on Dunkin’, but NWA—as the locals tend to call the area—runs on coffee from Airship and Onyx, two of the nation’s premier third-wave roasters who seem as omnipresent as Coke and Pepsi here. Along with coffee, other themes woven through many of the region’s offerings are visual art and bicycling. Those happen to be passions of Walmart heiress Alice Walton and her nephews Tom and Steuart Walton, who have lavished funding on the arts and bike-related projects in the homeland of “Fortune 1”—as locals refer to Walmart, the world’s largest company. The largesse of the Waltons (as well as the Tyson Foods heirs) has fueled a distinctive local culture and economy in which you’ll see mountain bikes rolling around city streets like it’s the nineties and where artists are moving to town to pick up projects.

THE LEDGER Brand new in downtown Bentonville—we were given an exclusive hard hat tour in advance of the building’s opening—the Ledger (108 S. Main St., Floor 2, Bentonville) bills itself as the first-ever bikeable building. How do you make a building bikeable? The eastern side of the six-story building is made up of switchbacks that lead to an event space and outdoor patio with views of the city and the ancient hills that surround it.

Most visitors will grab a cup at the Airship Coffee in the ground-floor lobby and then bike up the switchbacks, where they’ll cross over inlaid tile insects that send a message up top.

“We are an extension of the coffee experience, the biking experience and the art experience here in Bentonville—you’re not going to fill your whole cup here, but you’re going to get a nibble of all of it,” says Mary Best, the building’s operations director.

Best is an Olathe native who moved down to Arkansas for the project. She’d only passed through the area on her way to a wedding before moving down and buying into the Bentonville lifestyle. She’s become an everyday bike commuter and taken up waterfall hunting after mountain rains.

“You have bar-raisers here, and that’s something that’s kind of unique,” Best says. “This is where the bar gets raised and everyone is trying to one-up the person before them and do something bigger and cooler.”

The Ledger will have a specialized bikes demo center on the ground floor and will be the temporary home of the Walmart Museum, which is renovating its space down the street.

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NOV. 22 YEYO’S EL ALMA DE MEXICO Yeyo’s isn't new, having started as a food truck a decade ago and opened its flagship taqueria way back in 2017. But it’s getting new attention thanks to the sitdown Yeyo's El Alma de Mexico location (801 S.E. Eighth St., Suite 41, Bentonville) being named among the fifty best restaurants in the country by the New York Times this year.

Yeyo’s makes Mexican street food in the style of the family’s native Michoacán—a state that enjoys a stellar reputation for food among Mexicans, as you can see from the number of taquerias that advertise themselves as Michocán in KCK. But what makes it special is where it sources the ingredients. All of the restaurant’s produce is grown on a small farm just a few miles from the Bentonville town square.

The tacos are stellar, and the $6 house margaritas are nearly as nineties as those moutain bikes on city streets.

BAUHAUS BIERGARTEN The town of Springdale is home to Tyson Foods and is among the most diverse in Arkansas—the city has a huge Latin population and is also home to a large number of migrants from the Marshall Islands.

It’s now home to an arty new German beer bar and restaurant called Bauhaus Bistro & Biergarten (326 Holcomb St., Springdale) run by Jennifer Hill Booker and her business partner Daniel Hintz. All of the beer is imported, and the sausages are brought down from Hintz’s hometown of Milwaukee.

Hintz spent a decade directing the downtown associations of Fayetteville and Bentonville and then worked on the downtown master plans for both Rogers and Springdale. “I’ve been very involved in a lot of the development throughout northwest Arkansas,” Hintz says. “So I’ve been involved in the big regional conversations around food.”

Hintz saw an opportunity to do some redevelopment projects in downtown Springdale and bought the building where Bauhaus is as well as a former church across the street. “This building was actually built in 1947 by a doctor who actually flew over German artisans right after the war to build this building,” he says. “So there’s a real connection.”

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LISTENING FOREST AT CRYSTAL BRIDGES Any visit to northwest Arkansas should include a visit to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (600 Museum Way, Bentonville), one of the nation’s top museums.

Among the things that make the museum special—beyond a collection that includes Pollock, O’Keefe, Warhol and Rothko—is the wooded grounds, which have art installations sprinkled throughout.

If you visit before the end of the year, be sure to visit Listening Forest. Created by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, it was installed in the woods on the north side of the grounds and uses light, projections and music by electronic musician Scanner (Robin Rimbaud) to create an immersive experience.

Also at the museum now through the end of January, you’ll find the special exhibit “Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour”, which is the museum’s first foray into fashion. The exhibit shows American fashion as a “powerful emblem of global visual culture” and includes a hundred pieces ranging from Anna Sui’s Western-inspired ensembles to period zoot suits.

COLER MOUNTAIN BIKE PRESERVE Coler Mountain Bike Preserve is a three-hundred-acre public mountain bike park in Bentonville with seventeen miles of single-track trails. They range from beginner-friendly routes that you’ll see toddlers riding to double black diamond cliff launches for experts only. The park officially opened just before the pandemic but has grown into itself since, with attractions like an off-the-road cafe run by Airship Coffee, which you’ll have to walk or bike to. That cafe is worth the effort, with swing seating and a rooftop garden overlooking a lush forest. If you’re a cyclist, the preserve has a national reputation for a reason. It’s also a nice place for a walk or to spend the night camping (see sidebar).

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STAY 21C Museum Hotel Bentonville’s town square is home to a branch of the 21c Museum Hotel (21cmuseumhotels.com/bentonville), which Kansas Citians will know from our own downtown location.

Bentonville’s 21c has a hundred rooms and is walkable to everything in downtown Bentonville.

Rosebud at Flamingo Springs We’ve written about Flamingo Springs Trailer Resort (15475 Greasy Valley Road, Prairie Grove, Ark.) in these pages before. The resort has turned old trailers into relatively posh cabinets with their own themes, including a popular Friends trailer. The newest trailer, which just opened this spring, is called the Rosebud and is themed for the cult hit TV series Schitt’s Creek.

Coler Mountain Bike Preserve The Coler Preserve just outside the city (2003 N.W. Homestead Lane, Bentonville) also has one of the nicest semi-urban campgrounds you’ll ever stay at, with seventeen hike-in tent spots and five places to park camping vans. The surgically clean modern latrine and bathhouse is also architecturally impressive. The sites are very reasonably priced but book up fast.

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he drive from Kansas City to Ridgedale, Missouri, is about three and a half hours. The southbound route passes through a number of charming towns and past a bevy of billboards promising untold riches in the back of antique shops. Green pastures give way to an increasingly rugged terrain dotted with towering oak, pine and dogwood trees.

It’s a pleasant enough jaunt down Route 86, but the real joy of the trip is the final destination. Once you’ve passed under an archway emblazoned with the words “Welcome to Paradise,” you’ll know you’re there.

Big Cedar Lodge is sprawled out over 4,600 acres, the property smack dab in the middle of prime Ozark territory on the shores of Table Rock Lake. The spread of polished buildings, glittering blue lakes and landscaped foliage framed by mountains is breathtaking—and it is just the beginning.

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Cabins tucked away into the rugged landscape of the Ozark Mountains.

Perched high on the property, Falls Lodge is a grand, rustic lodge offering breathtaking views.

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GLA M PING —A N D THEY M EA N IT Even if you’ve come to Big Cedar Lodge with a specific activity in mind—worldclass golfing, perhaps, or a family vacation taking advantage of Fun Mountain—it would be easy to be overwhelmed by the countless activities and amenities the resort has to offer.

Upon check-in, your concierge will outline the most crucial information: the route to your sumptuously appointed digs, the most popular attractions and restaurants, where to find the various outdoor and indoor pools, how to get to the beach and marina, how to get to the rental canoes and boats, how to access the golf courses. There are plenty of activities to cram into your vacation schedule—but first, you’ll need to unload your luggage.

Big Cedar Lodge made a notable addition to its lineup of Ozark-inspired cabins, the ones that feature impressive vaulted ceilings, wood-burning fireplaces and shower-steam rooms. Minutes from the main camp, along the shores of Table Rock Lake, Camp Long Creek was introduced, with fifty-six units of nature-based accommodations: cottages, shepherd’s huts and luxury glamping tents. There are 74 units in

Enjoy your morning coffee on your private balcony overlooking the glittering blue waters of Table Rock Lake.

total now. Several units were added over the last to years due to their popularity.

The cottages have all the contemporary features you’re accustomed to, like modern kitchens with high-end appliances, fine beds appointed with plush linens and jacuzzi bathtubs, as well as rustic touches like screened-in porches and s’mores kits for guests upon arrival. The huts are slender, with pretty kitchenettes (enviable farmhouse sinks included) and cozy queen beds.

The glamping tents are marvels: Canvas tent walls are upheld by sturdy support beams, and they conceal king beds beneath chandeliers with full electricity to support a fridge and the essential coffee machine.

Enjoy your morning coffee on your private balcony overlooking the glittering blue waters of Table Rock Lake, and when night falls make good use of that s’mores kit with your personal fire pit. Glamping means you have a private bathroom with a shower, of course, but make sure you take advantage of your outdoor tub, perfect for relaxing with a glass of wine while you gaze at the stars and listen to the hum of cicadas.

Camp Long Creek is ideal for guests interested in water sports. Long Creek Marina features an outdoor pool, beach access and rentable boats and sport equipment.

Catch your dinner—the fish are always biting at Table Rock Lake, particularly the bass—or treat yourself to a sunset dinner yacht cruise on the elegant Lady Liberty.

FOR GOLF A N D GLORY Golf is a beautiful game. Even without the clubs and balls, it would be beautiful: Ambling along a manicured green, blades of grass still flecked with morning dew while delicate birdsong welcomes you to the day. It would be enough to just stroll along the course, especially if that course is Payne’s Valley.

Payne’s Valley is the newest addition to the list of world-class golf courses at Big Cedar Lodge. The a ninteen-hole course was built to showcase the natural beauty of the Ozarks and has the distinction of being the first public golf course in the U.S. by the legendary Tiger Woods and his firm, TGR Design. It is a spectacular family-friendly design, made for players of every skill level to enjoy the game amid the backdrop of the majestic Ozark Mountains.

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Situated on Table Rock Lake, enjoy a serene backdrop while relaxing in a luxury Glamping tent.

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Payne’s Valley, the first ever public access course designed by Tiger Woods, opened in the fall of 2020.

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The landscaped green is breathtaking.

There are exposed rock outcroppings that are, of course, designed strategically for golfing, with winding streams and cascading valleys lined with trees. For a golfer, the possibilities are endless: Experienced players can challenge themselves with creative shots from the sprawling fairways. The game ends with a par-three hole designed by Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops and Big Cedar Lodge, culminating on an island green shrouded by waterfalls.

Payne’s Valley is the fifth golf course at Big Cedar Lodge (named the Best New Public Golf Course in North America by Golf Digest).

It joins the ranks of the Tom Fazio-designed Buffalo Ridge course (named second Best Public Course in Missouri by Golfweek, second only to Ozarks International), the Jack Nicklaus Signature-designed Top of the Rock (perched high above Table Rock Lake), the family-friend-

ly Mountain Top Course (a thirteen-hole par-three short course with stunning views) and Ozarks National (named Best New Course in North America in 2019, and Best Public Course in Missouri by Golfweek). It’s no wonder that GOLF Magazine named Big Cedar Lodge as the number one family resort in North America.

Big Cedar Lodge has brought online golf accommodations to its list of offerings. Angler’s Lodge and the Golf cottages were added to take your stay the extra mile.

One of the great pleasures of golfing is the setting in which you play. The courses at Big Cedar Lodge are nothing short of idyllic, and as you shoot that sun-dappled white ball across the green, do not be surprised by the feeling of serenity that sinks down to your bones. It doesn’t matter if you’ve parred the hole or not: What matters is that you’re breathing in the crisp Ozark air as the sun caresses your cheeks.

That’s paradise.

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Soak in the sunset from the highest elevation point in Taney County.

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The Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail is the perfect appetizer before heading to Top of the Rock for dinner.

The courses at Big Cedar Lodge are nothing short of idyllic.

A CONSERVATION IST ’ S DR EA M Johnny Morris’ name is everywhere at Big Cedar Lodge. Seeing as he’s the lodge’s founder (and the man behind Bass Pro Shops), that’s no surprise.

But his legacy as a conservationist deserves particular attention: In 2019, he was awarded the National Audubon Society’s Audubon Medal, one of America’s most prestigious conservation awards. Morris has spent his life working to preserve wildlife and wild places for future generations, and there is perhaps no better example of this work than Big Cedar Lodge’s expansive acreage.

Between cleaning Table Rock Lake out of all its fish and setting golf records, take the time to explore the two-and-a-half-mile Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail. As always, Big Cedar Lodge promises convenience above all things: You’ll enjoy a close-up look at some of the Ozark’s natural plants, animals and rock formations—all from the comfort of a golf cart that you can drive yourself. Go ahead, wear flip-flops.

Trick your kiddos with red buckeye, which gets its name from the white scar on the seeds, mimicking the eye of a male deer. In the spring, the buckeye’s red flowers draw hummingbirds. Black-eyed Susans grow wild here, and so does the white dome hydrangea. Flower and butterfly enthusiasts will consider this a sanctuary.

Stop the cart and hop off to get a closer look at the naturally formed rock shelters jutting out from the sides of the earth: Hundreds of years ago, Native Americans and early settlers took refuge in the cool shadows of these very structures. The view hasn’t changed much since then. The sound of waterfalls slick against the limestone is soothing, enough to offset the excitement of seeing a native fox, raccoon or woodchuck.

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The Lost Canyon Cave is the centerpiece of the trail, and it is a wonderful stopping point, thanks to the convenient Bat Bar at the entrance, where fresh-squeezed strawberry lemonade (or vodka lemonade, if that’s your pleasure) is poured into a plastic cup, to be enjoyed for the rest of your journey. Big Bear Cave, on the other hand, is awe-inspiring, with toothy stalagmites extended from ceiling to floor. It is simultaneously dangerous and elegant: Extending a hand into the depths is like reaching into a bear’s mouth. There’s no risk of being bitten, though, unless you’re counting the nature bug.

The views at Big Cedar Lodge are spectacular no matter where you’re at.

A MOUNTAIN OF FUN Fun Mountain is an indoor facility built to appease the child living inside us all—as well as actual children. Here, you can get lost in a four-thousand-square-foot arcade boasting over sixty video and arcade games, both modern and vintage, tackle an interactive climbing adventure, beat the heat with an indoor golf simulator, zip around in a bumper car, dominate at laser tag and sharpen your pool skills.

Given all the games—and the pirate ship suspended from the ceiling, complete with climbing ropes—you’d be forgiven for thinking Fun Mountain was designed

by Peter Pan’s rambunctious lost boys.

The show-stopper is, of course, Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl. Walking into this bowling alley is like being blessed with mermaid vision. The sixteen lanes are cast in deep oceanic blues that shift like waves, and the sharks, fish and other sea creatures suspended from the ceiling move with the water. It’s enough to make you feel like you’re sending bowling balls down a dock at the bottom of the sea.

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Grab a drink at the Bat Bar before riding through this stunning cave.

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The Buffalo Bar is your picture perfect destination for world-class cuisine in the Ozarks.

Get a bottle of pinot noir and order a wood-fired pizza or a perfectly seared filet mignon.

Sunsets here are an event. As the sky darkens, the jazz band will introduce a new guest: a bagpipe player, whose rendition of “Amazing Grace” pays homage to golf’s Scottish roots and serves as a stirring salute to the setting sun. As the last note lingers in the air, a Civil War cannon is fired, the great boom echoing throughout the trees.

But the cannon doesn’t have to signal the end of your night. Below the Buffalo Bar, find the End of the Trail Wine Cellar. Get yourself a glass of something—wine, of course, or take advantage of the exceptional whiskey and Scotch offerings—and explore the underground quarry. There’s a large fire pit overlooking the grounds, and in the air, nothing but peace.

Speaking of peace: Everything about Cedar Creek Spa suggests that it is a sanctuary for your spirit, much like Big Cedar Lodge itself is a sanctuary of Ozark wilderness.

Here, between moments of explosive joy— the satisfaction of parring a hole on Payne’s Valley’s immaculate green, the thrill of “underwater” bowling, the excitement of discovery on the Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail, the sublime pleasure of toasting to a heart-soaring sunset—you’ll find tranquility unlike anything else. It’ll stay there, just for you, until you return again.

DIN N ER W ITH A V IEW The views at Big Cedar Lodge are spectacular no matter where you’re at, but they are perhaps most enjoyable when you are sitting at one of the plush leather chairs on the veranda of Buffalo Bar. Here, tables look across the view of Table Rock Lake, and if you are lucky enough to book a table for dinner, you can watch the crystal-blue waters shift to reflect the glowing pinks, oranges and purples of the sky.

Everyone here is in a good mood, from fellow diners to staff, and it is infectious.

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E AT I N G A N D D R I N K I N G W E L L I N K A N S A S C I T Y

PORKING UP

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

In the Caribbean, sofrito is a mix of herbs rich with onions, garlic and sweet peppers that’s used as a dip, a base for stews or a sauce with rice. One of the dishes sofrito often finds itself in—especially in Puerto Rico—is pernil (roast pork), often eaten on special occasions such as Christmas. At the bright yellow carry-out spot Cafe Sofrito (3731 Main St., KCMO), the juicy shredded pernil comes as a sandwich with crispy fried potato thins and mayonnaise spiked with the restaurant’s namesake herb blend. It’s simple compared to many preparations, says chef and manager Jose Garcia, eschewing other sauces you’d find in the Caribbean that would dampen the appeal for the regulars, many of whom work in the neighborhood. His formula is working, as you’ll often see a line snaking out the door of Cafe Sofrito, which took over for a vegan burger spot in Midtown. The guy in front of me never went to the vegan burger spot but said he’s here a couple of days a week now. He’s eaten his way across about half the menu, returning often for the shredded beef arepas, sweet plantains and that pernil sandwich. —MARTIN CIZMAR

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SUBTLY SPECIAL A French Laundry alum’s new Parkville restaurant takes an understated approach.

BY N ATA L I E TO R R E S G A L L AG H E R P H OTO G R A P H Y BY C A L E B C O N D I T A N D R E B E C C A N O R D E N

A

C R E I S L O C A T E D I N A B L A N D LY C O M M E R C I A L S T R E T C H

of Parkville, across from a strip mall hair salon and down a block from a Sonic drive-in. It occupies a building that was once a sports pub, though chef-owner Andrew Longres’ transformation is thorough: Acre’s walls are cast in sophisticated swatches of gray, offset by moody black tabletops and dark wood accents. The spotlight is on the open kitchen, a bright, white space helmed by Longres.

Longres chose his zip code intentionally. Parkville is home—he lives there with his wife and children—and Acre is named for Rolling Acres, the family farm in Liberty he grew up roaming. He bills the menu at Acre as “modern Midwestern cuisine,” with most produce grown locally and most meat coming from the Midwest, with the occasional exception for Texas wagyu.

“We have to be able to have grown, raised or procured it on the farm,” Longres says. “That’s the rule. That’s the brand.”

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Chef Andrew Longres works in the open kitchen

At a glance, Acre’s menu would also suggest that the brand is stuck somewhere in the early aughts. There’s a Caesar salad, steak tartare, trout almondine and substantial cuts of beef offered with béarnaise. It’s not a particularly exciting list: You’ve seen all these things before.

Or have you? Longres spent three years at Napa Valley’s renowned French Laundry before moving back to Kansas City to head up the kitchens at Bluestem and The American. He infuses originality into many of his tried-and-true classics. I am still thinking about the smoked tomato soup, a ten-dollar bowl that Longres calls “homey.” Perhaps this dish started as the girl next door, but Longres transforms it into a red carpet bombshell. Sliced baby heirloom tomatoes, torn chunks of Farm to Market’s rustic wheat bread, jagged mountains of aged cheddar and a sprig of basil are arranged in a pretty crescent, and this is what will grin up at you from the bowl while your server releases tiger-colored liquid velvet from a carafe. This is grilled cheese and tomato soup all grown up.

Although the cooking is precise and occasionally theatrical, Acre is only modestly ambitious. This is not a fine dining restaurant (note the burlap-style linens and offering of fried cheese curds). Longres’ aim was upscale-casual, which means that as long as you’re down to pay upwards of sixty dollars for a steak, you’re welcome to wear flip-flops and bring your toddler. (In fairness, you can get by on a relative budget at Acre: The least-expensive entree is an eight-ounce burger with fries for eighteen dollars.)

When you first sit down at Acre, your server will rattle off a bit about how the restaurant is farm-to-table, which feels a little redundant, because of course it is— consumers expect it to be. Your server will then inform you that you must make all your food decisions up front so that the chef can course them out appropriately for you, which doesn’t sound all that casual.

The focal point of the menu is dry-aged steaks. These are also the least interesting among Acre’s offerings, but Longres taps into the nostalgia of his boyhood farm days and the Cowtown legacy. Steak enthusiasts may choose from a twelve-ounce strip loin (sixty-five dollars), a fourteen-ounce ribeye (seventy dollars) and a forty-ounce bone-in ribeye (one hundred and sixty dollars). All are aged between twenty-one and forty-five days, which means that they taste better— beefier—than un-aged steaks, although if

The trout almondine with wild rice

you’re going to appreciate the buttery melt of a medium-rare bite, you’ll need to eschew the temptation of dragging it through béarnaise sauce.

The best value at Acre may well be the twenty-five dollar pickle-brined fried chicken entree. Two thighs and two tenderloins receive an impeccable breading—perfect thickness, with crunchy Grand Canyon ridges—and are swathed with a peppery hot sauce and ember-fused honey. Kansas City has never been short on fried chicken outlets, but the Acre plate—dotted with dill and sliced pickles and served with fries—crackles with personality.

The trout almondine could have borrowed a bit of that. It is technically excellent: The kitchen crushes almonds to specific diameters for an even cook, and they are a beautiful texture atop an impeccably cooked freshwater fish (you will never find saltwater seafood at Acre). But the accompanying almond cream was more mild than it needed to be, the pole beans were lukewarm and the wild rice was forgettable. And, alas, though the combined flavors of a dry-aged pork chop, sweet peaches and chili jus were successful, the chop itself was overcooked and disappointingly chewy.

But there is far more to like at Acre than not. I was skeptical about the Wisconsin cheese curds, but Longres presents a golden pile of panko-breaded gooey goodness that is as generously portioned as it is delicious.

(However, as a longtime Wisconsinite, I cannot forgive the substitution of pimento cheese mousse in lieu of

Steaks are dry-aged and served naked

ranch dip, no matter how original it may be.) The tartare features dryaged Akaushi wagyu and a dressing adapted from Longres’ grandmother’s mustard recipe, with a cooked egg whipped in—it’s wet but not cloying.

Acre’s single pasta, a braised rabbit cappelletti, is light and lovely. And prepare to become obsessed with Acre’s hearty Caesar salad, a balance of crunchy romaine, creamy dressing (spiked with smoked creme fraîche) and flavor bursts of fried saltines.

Desserts are fairly standard—there is a nice lavender cheesecake, a lemon cake and a dark chocolate cremeux that is really a deconstructed s’mores.

Happily, the wine program reaches beyond steakhouse pairings, carrying enough new and old world vintages at varying price points to have broad appeal. And the cocktails are much better than they need to be: The Missouri Wildfire is a twist on a margarita, with mezcal and a peach-habanero shrub.

And if you like strong drinks and the scent of Douglas fir candles, the Wooded Acre martini is for you.

Acre was much-hyped in the lead-up to its opening, and it’s likely that many expected an

The cheese curds are served with a pimento cheese mousse

elaborate fine dining exercise from Longres. But Kansas City probably doesn’t need another iteration of The American.

Acre certainly fills a void in Parkville—Longres particularly wanted Parkvillians with discerning taste to be able to get a “really good cocktail.” Perhaps the most ambitious thing about Acre is its aim to appeal to a wide audience by being fancy enough for special occasions and chill enough for any weeknight. Longres doesn’t seem to be trying to impress anyone with fine dining tricks, but he does show off with subtle flourishes—a house-made ricotta dip, tomato water as vinaigrette—that mark Acre as something special.

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TA S T E PER FECT DAY

THE RECIPE Wayne Moots is looking to bring Kansas City’s queer community together with a cookbook.

BY I S A B E L L A F E R R E N T I N O

and friends is an ageold tradition we know and love. Whether it’s a recipe for a Thanksgiving casserole or a perfected pasta sauce, secret recipes are passed down.

Wayne Moots is working to make a cookbook of recipes compiled from the Kansas City queer community. Inspired by the cookbook from influential Atlanta-based arts organization Southern Fried Queer Pride, Moots wanted their own version: A Queer Kansas City Cookbook.

“We all know the conversation like what the food a family makes tells their story,” they say, “but I kind of realized I’d never heard that conversation through the lens of my chosen family and the queer community. And I just started dwelling on my own experience with food.”

Food has always played a significant role in Moots’ life. They grew up cooking for their busy family and school friends. After trying out culinary and baking school, they found comfort in the restaurant industry for their eight years in Kansas City.

As the founder and owner of Palace Parties, Moots is always giving back to the Kansas City queer community.

The organization throws events for the Kansas City LGBTQIA community to make S H A RI N G R EC I PES WI TH FA MILY

the city a more inviting, celebratory environment.

“I’ve been trying to keep all the recipes as true to what was said to me,” they say. “The structure that they’re going to be published is the structure that I received them [in]. I think the way we write recipes is very representative of our experience as well, and I don’t want people to lose their voice when sharing their recipes.”

Moots is doing research with the help of the Gay Lesbian Archives of Mid-America, which was started by Stuart Heinz and serves as a historic archive for the queer existence in Kansas City. But Moots is working solo on the cookbook as it takes its own direction. “Because I’m stumbling across all of these really incredible stories of these queer spaces that no longer exist,” Moots says, “I’m trying to sort out how to include all of this in a cookbook. So maybe it turns into more than just a cookbook.”

A half-dozen people have contributed recipes so far, and Moots is shooting for at least thirty pages. They’re extending their deadline from November to January in hopes of more contributions.

“It’s been really inspiring to be reading these stories. and it gives me reassurance knowing how hard I’ve been working even though there are not as many submissions,” Moots says. “The stories I’m getting are such quality that where I’m at now isn’t really taking away my feeling of pride for my community.”

FAVO R I T E S P OT S Morning Museum “I’d get the sesame seed and scallion schmear bagel from Meshuggah Bagels, then walk through The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.” Lambrusco Lunch “Lunch at Room 39.

And I get whatever gnocchi dish they have. They always have a gnocchi dish on their menu and it just hits every time. I usually get a glass of Lambrusco when I’m there for breakfast or lunch.”

Vintage Vibes “I’m probably shopping at Wonderland Vintage and Boomerang.

Then I would go to Loose Park and bring a couple of snacks and maybe a bottle of Champagne.”

Don’t Miss “Chez Charlie for drinks and Missie B’s following. “I would reluctantly find myself at Missie’s after that. I usually find myself camped out on their cigarette patio.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY BYZACH BAUMAN

Home Base “I would do drinks before dinner at Voltaire. I’ve worked there on and off and I’m friends with most of the people that work there, so that tends to be one of my home bases for drinks.”

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TA S T E DR I N K

TWENTYPENNY Boulevard resurrects a much-missed English pub ale.

was originally brewed in the early nineties for the grocery stores of Kansas. At the time—and indeed until 2019— Kansas only allowed beer with up to 3.2 percent alcohol by volume on supermarket shelves. Tenpenny was a classic English bitter, a style that founder John McDonald came to love while whiling away afternoons in British pub ales.

Originally just 2.6 percent ABV, Tenpenny was meant to be drunk over long, relatively sober sessions.

When Boulevard came up with a lower-gravity version of its popular wheat beer, Tenpenny went the way of the Ford Probe and Ecto Cooler.

“From the moment that we discontinued Tenpenny back in 2002, maybe on MySpace, people were like ‘Hey, bring back Tenpenny,” says Adam Hall, Boulevard’s brand manager. “It’s one of those beers we hear about all the time. There’s a voice for it.

It’s not a big voice, but it’s enough for us to listen to.”

Twenty years later, Tenpenny is back in ALE

Boulevard’s seasonal mixed pack, offered alongside a thematically appropriate milk stout, single Belgian abbey ale, and the original Space Camper—which at this point feels like a throwback. Of those, Tenpenny has gotten outsized attention, at least among local beer geeks.

“It was very much a fan favorite in the early days of the taproom,” Hall says, “and the brewers liked drinking it because they could have a few of those and bike home.”

Social media reaction to the idea of bringing back Tenpenny was strong—surprisingly so.

“We were wondering how many of the people who were asking for it actually had it, because it was twenty years old,” says Hall, who spent several days shopping around for another commercial extra special bitter for the brewers to taste. “Is there a lot of consumer demand for it? Probably not, but it’s not another hazy IPA that’s going to clog the shelf.”

I never had the original Tenpenny, but the new one is crisp and balanced, with a mild caramel sweetness offset by a clean bite from old-school Nugget and Willamette hops.

There are only three in the mixed pack, making for a short but satisfying session. It has me hoping for an imminent English ale revival.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY K AYLA MASISAK

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

B O U L E VA R D ’ S T E N P E N N Y

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TA S T E B I T E S

Tyler Harp

NEWSFEED

WHAT’S NEW IN KANSAS CITY FOOD & DRINK

HARP PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAWN BRACKBILL

…And Justus For All

A new version of Justus Drugstore is planned as chef Jonathan Justus and his wife, Camille Eklof, again try to capture the magic of their homey Smithville restaurant in the confines of the city.

According to the Kansas City Star, the new Justus Drugstore will open in the Hyde Park neighborhood of KCMO sometime in March or April. They are still deciding between possible locations.

It’s the latest move for Justus, who operated a restaurant in his family’s former pharmacy starting in 2007 that is still mentioned as one of the area’s best-ever dining experiences. Justus tried to move the magic to the South Plaza by opening Black Dirt in what is now the Blu Hwy space on Main Street.

Reviews were mixed, with many complaining that it couldn’t match the ambiance of the intimate rural spot.

Although it’s perhaps premature to discuss the specifics of a restaurant that doesn’t even have a space yet, the Star reports that the new Justus Drugstore will be open for dinner Wednesdays through Sundays, that the menu will be posted online, with customers prepaying, and that “Wednesdays will be the four-course family-style dinner with a monthly theme, perhaps 1920 New Orleans or Spanish tapas.”

Method Man

Kansas City’s best barbecue will be available in a restaurant “before the end of the year.”

Tyler Harp opened his pop-up in the back of Raytown’s Crane Brewing back in the spring of 2019 and has since twice topped our biannual survey of the city’s best pits.

Harp Barbecue will open a brick-and-mortar location in Raytown at 6633 Raytown Road, a former Mexican restaurant that was a longtime location of Lutfi’s Fried Fish before that. Harp hopes to be open in late November or early December. He searched the metro area before ending up at a space just about three hundred yards south of Crane Brewing, the site of his pop-up.

While the menu will eventually expand—when Harp opened there were just four meats and three sides—the opening-day menu will be similar to the current pop-up menus, which include brisket, sausages, pork, and a handful of sides and specials.

“We’re going to start small, which is always how we’ve tried to operate as a business,” Harp says.

“We try to move slow and be methodical.”

Digging Dirt

Green Dirt Farm in Weston is wellknown for its sheep’s milk cheeses. In 2016, Green Dirt opened a small cafe and cheese shop in downtown Weston that has become a hit with day trippers and tourists. Now, Green Dirt is coming into the city and opening a cafe in the east Crossroads.

According to the Star, the cafe will seat sixty-five and be at 1601 Oak St. There will be an events space and rooftop deck as well as facilities for making cheese on-site.

Bear It

The former Stagecoach Tavern in the middle of Overland Park is now home to Bear Necessities (9609 W. 87th St.). Owner Spencer Hanson is a veteran of other coffee shops, with fifteen years in the industry, who favors simple drinks and a community-centered approach where, as he told the Shawnee Mission Post, “anybody and everybody can come in.”

The shop has a small selection of alcoholic drinks and pastries from KCMO’s Heirloom Bakery.

Rockin’ in Leawood

The Rockhill Grille is coming to Leawood’s Town Center Crossing before the end of the year. The classic chophouse, known for its wood-fired prime rib and bone-in pork chop, will be in the former La Bodega space at 119th and Roe. Also new in Town Center is Ruby Jean’s Juicery, which is on the east side of Town Center Plaza near Power Life.

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STAND AND DELIVER Two new pits take over the toughest gig in barbecue: selling smoked meat at Arrowhead.

BY M A R T I N C I Z M A R

A

R R O W H E A D S TA D I U M I S O V E R -T H E -T O P. The Guinness-certified loudest stadium in the world is home to a team with a record-shattering offense in front of an audience that starts pounding beers before dawn.

It’s also one of the toughest places in the world to serve barbecue—facing a massive, rowdy crowd of hungry fans with high standards.

Todd Johns of Plowboys won the grand championship at the American Royal and ran three restaurants spread across the metro area. But when Johns closed his restaurants to pivot to his booming rub business, which is now shipping products to thirty countries, and was asked about the biggest challenges of his restaurant career, he pointed to Sundays at the stadium.

During a typical game day, Johns would walk six and a half miles of steps.

“It took two days to recover,” he said.

This season, with Plowboys ending its operations, there are two new barbecue vendors at Arrowhead. You’ll find Buck Tui of Overland Park in Sections 121 and 339 and Jousting Pigs of Liberty and KCK in Sections 107 and 316. Both are great and were named among the top ten

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pits in town in our most recent biannual survey of the city.

Both were also brought along to work a game day with Johns to learn the ropes before signing on.

Buck Tui owner Ted Liberda, whose Thai-fusion BBQ concept took over the former Plowboys on 75th Street in Overland Park, says he “grew up at Arrowhead” as a huge Chiefs fan but that he was still surprised at what it’s like to work a game from behind the stand.

“It’s managed chaos,” Liberda says. “For me, as an operator or chef, I like the challenge. You get hammered and you push through and no matter what, you make it happen. It’s an adrenaline rush. It’s thrilling for us.”

The menu at the Buck Tui stands is simplified a bit from the restaurant, with two sandwiches, two types of loaded fries and BBQ chili crunch nachos. At first, Liberda tried to do his signature brisket rangoon before making a pivot.

“At the restaurant, it seems like there’s a brisket rangoon at every table,” he says. “People were coming up asking for nachos. Nachos are great— you’re at the game and everybody wants nachos.”

Those nachos get their kick from a chili crunch sauce that’s always been a staple at the Liberda home, which includes garlic, shallots, onion and the flakes of a milder pepper.

You’ll also find nachos at Jousting Pig BBQ, along with beef and pork sandwiches and pulled porkloaded fries.

Owner John Atwell was likewise broken-in on a shift with Johns and was a little intimidated by the workload, but he welcomed the chance to show his stuff.

“I definitely had reservations, as they are very long days and require a lot of coordination leading up to a game to make sure you have everything you need,” Atwell says. “It is a very high-profile spot. Eighty-thousand fans plus other event staff make for great exposure. The craziest thing to me is how much goes into the operations of one event. It is really crazy to be on the other side.”

One of the best parts of the gig, Atwell says, is hearing from fans of his ’cue who are happy to see him serving at the stadium.

“I did samples at the Kingdom Club during the last game and was able to interact with the fans, and it was a lot of fun,” he says. “While moving supplies between our two stands, I had fans that saw my Jousting Pigs shirt come and tell me how much they love our food. It really meant a lot in all that commotion that people made an effort to come tell me.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALYSSA BROADUS

TA S T E ’CU E C A R D

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SURREAL ESTATE T H E S TO R I E S B E H I N D K A N S A S C I T Y ’ S M O S T E Y E - C ATC H I N G B U I L D I N G S

The Church of Scientology took over a unique bank building.

B

U I LT TO IMPRE S S nearly a century ago, this former bank building’s profile is probably even more formidable in its latest incarnation as the home of Kansas City’s Church of Scientology.

Proudly sitting on the corner of Grand Avenue and 18th Street, at seven stories tall and capped with the church’s moniker glowing in large white letters, the approximately 67,000-square-foot structure was built by the Kemper banking family in 1926. At the time, the location was considered Midtown. Now, it’s firmly ensconced in the Crossroads Arts District.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places, the building was designed in the 1980s by the architecture firm Holden, Ferris and Barnes.

“No expense was spared to insure [sic] that the banking floor fulfilled a traditional banking ethic of restrained grandeur,” the National Register documents read. “Five sorts of marble were used. A beamed ceiling was painted in an

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‘Aztec’ pattern and all lighting fixtures were of massive proportions, forged in brass and wrought iron.

Marble tellers’ cages arranged in a U-configuration ended in ornate brass and iron grillwork. A brass drinking fountain and paneled cigar stand in the vestibule added to the sense of aristocratic wealth.”

The lobby was impressive then, and through years-long restoration efforts by the church, which bought the building in 2007, it remains so.

“The building sat vacant for a while, and there was a lot of preservation work to be done, a lot of cleaning,” says Bennette Seaman, a Church of Scientology spokesperson. The church hired a local artist to repaint the lobby’s beams and an industrial cleaning company to restore the bank’s massive “steelcrete” vault—a unique and complex system of interwoven steel that was patented in 1923. Only two hundred of these vaults were built in the United States, and the Grand Avenue vault was the only one built in Kansas City. It is cur-

rently being used as an executive meeting room, Seaman says.

The grand main floor, encircled by a mezzanine level, is open to the public and attracts visitors. “We had one person come to take a look that remembered coming to the bank as a child and seeing men with guns on the mezzanine level watching over everyone,” Seaman says.

A gang of “bandits” had robbed the bank and gotten away with around $50,000 shortly after it opened, according to historic documents. After the robbery, a reinforced steel gun turret was installed on the mezzanine level. A guard sat equipped with a Thompson submachine gun like the one the robbers used.

The building has gone through several tenants over the years, including several different banks and an engineering and architecture firm, as well as a brief stint as the office of the Kansas City Star. The Church of Scientology held its grand opening in 2019.

—DAWNYA BARTSCH

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

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