The Success of Union Station

Yesterday, Union Station announced that it had record attendence during the 90-day run of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit.  During the 90 Days, Union Station averaged just under 2,000 visitors a day, besting the previously most successful exhibit, the Titanic.

For most of the last decade, Union Station has been a proverbial whipping boy of the city.  After spending $250 million of a bi-state tax on the renovation of the station, it has undergone several bits of mis-management that have caused it to be labeled as a failure by many in this city.

Union Station is anything but a failure. Even though many of the management criticisms are warrented, labeling the renovation project a failure is far from the truth.

In 1996, when I first moved to Kansas City, Union Station sat in a blighted part of our city.  I passed by it a couple of times, on my way to Crown Center, which sat as the lone oasis in a sea of blight.

Since Union Station's renovation, the area that surrounds it has become an economic boom for the city.  The rail house across the tracks was renovated and now houses three fine KC restaurants.  The neighboring Crossroads is now filled with fabulous art galeries and restaurants, the TWA headquarters that sat abandoned and in disrepair for decades, now houses the city's largest advertising agency. One abandoned warehouses now contain $800,000 lofts and condos.

To the South, the Liberty Memorial, the only memorial built for World War I prior to World War II, has been renovated into a world-class museum.  The Federal Reserve Bank is nearing completion on its new headquarters, and the post office has moved inside the museum, leaving the old Post Office building to become part of the new IRS Headquarters building (the new part has won many awards for green design) and brought over 5,000 jobs to the area.

Meanwhile, in spite of the struggles of the Station itself to get into the black, it remains a showpiece for tourists and residents, a place that houses major events and weddings, has a beautiful fountain separating it from the Liberty Memorial.  It also contains two fabulous restaurants.  And Science City is still a great place for kids, even if it is less than it could be. It has also become a routine stop for some outstanding Smithsonian exhibits including the Titanic Exhibit, the 9/11 Exhibit, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Exhibits that previously would have bypassed KC for other areas.

For this, Union Station often gets labeled as a failure.  Sure, some of the downtown renaissance may have happened anyway, but the Union Station remodel signified a dedication by the people in the city toward downtown, created a centerpiece for the revitalization, and opened the door for the IRS HQs move.  Regardless of whether the station ever gets in the black, the remodel was well worth the metro's cost.  The picture to the left shows Union Station Circa 1983...hardly an upbeat sight.

Here's to hoping that the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit is a new start to showing off the city's showpiece.

Comments

[KC Sponge]

I'm with you, here. There are some great events there as well. They need to help the retailers make some money so that they stay there, though. When people come from out of town, there is nothing else but Science City or the traveling exhibit during the day. I loved Buster's Bookshelf - they chased them out when they closed the museum 2 days a week and moved the entrance downstairs and kept their rent the same. I am a member of SC and used to go 1 or 2 times a week, but soon tired of the same old thing - and you can only browse through US merchandise for so long . . .
do you know what's going in the old Fritz's space?

[Brent]

I am a member also. I do end up having lunch at Union Cafe about once a month, and Pierponts a couple times a year, and I usually end up making one or two of the traveling exhibits...I pay my membership to do my part to help financially. It's an important building to me.

I've heard it rumored that the old Fitz's space may become an Irish Pub (in connection with the KC Irish Museum moving its offices in the station). I'm really disappointed that Fitz's left -- it was a great fit for the building IMO -- but I talked to the owner about 6 months ago and he said they did great lunch biz, but it was completely dead at night. I think the opening of the IRS HQ can only help an establishment down there...

[KC Sponge]

Went dumpster diving when Fitz's closed - have a box full of tape with the logo and "Made in Kansas City" on it and some shirts and coozies. =) Just glad to hear it's not going to be a Hard Rock - but don't know if an Irish Pub will do any better. It'll be good to have something there nonetheless. People who park in the garage walk into this beautful building and see a huge empty space. It fulfills all the stories told . . .

[Brent]

Yeah, it's a shame that that has become the main entrance to such a wonderful building...

I don't know that an Irish Pub is the answer there...but it is better than empty space. Maybe the IRS crowd will keep it afloat at Happy Hour?

I really wish Fitzs could have somehow worked out...it was the perfect fit for that environment...

[KC Sponge]

The Rail Experience would have been a far better fit there - with more exposure as well - with a smaller restaurant tucked in somewhere. It's a huge space. Who knows. People drive all the way to the Legends for D&B - maybe that's what we need here, ESPN Zone. It would be unfortunate to have that be what people see when they walk in - but seeing a lot of people there would help in many ways as well. They'll figure it out, right? =)

They should have put Harvey House there . . . Comprehensive planning would be too much to ask.

[Brent]

I like Harvey House where it is...restoring that area back to its original form.

I was hoping 810 Zone would use that as it's downtown location when the P&L District didn't work out. That area is woefully underserved by sports bars for big events...but alas, they chose the plaza instead.

I love the idea of doing a rail-experience type of thing...maybe we could get a Fritz's there? Would be a neat fit...but probably too competitive with the Harvey House...they'll eventually figure it out, I hope.

[KC Sponge]

Last comment on this, I promise - it's nice having the Harvey House back where it used to be, but it seems to cut off the open connection between US and Crown Center and traffic coming into the building off of Main - like an 'oh, look at this place as we walk through to go to Fritz's' kind of feeling and not the destination that it should be.
Yeah, wouldn't it have been nice to get the 810 crowd into the station?! Or why not pull a big screen down in front of the clock for happy hour and game time at Union Cafe upstairs? It's hard to not want to glamorize the place just to get people in and see how freakin great it really is. Oh well - we'll see . . .