#1 Downtown living

• May 19: Urban homes tour @ 14 Downtown locations

#2 Memorial Day Celebration

• May 26: Celebration at the Station @ Union Station 

#3 Play that funky music

• May 18: Alex Bugnon & Cindy Bradley @ Gem Theater
• May 18: Downtown Hoedown with Clay Walker @ Power & Light District
• May 21: Of Monsters and Men @ Crossroads KC
• May 22: Soundgarden @ Midland

#4 Fashionistas!

• May 17: Rock the Block Fashion Show @ Power & Light District
• June 7: West 18^th Street Fashion Show @ Crossroads

#5 The lights are much brighter when you’re Downtown

• May 17: Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie @ Midland
• May 17-19: Downtown Art Annual @ Power & Light District
• May 20: WWE Raw @ Sprint Center

ENACTUS is a non-profit organization that unites a global community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and enable real human progress. Guided by faculty advisors and business experts, participating students form teams on their campuses to create and implement sustainable community projects that empower people to improve their quality of life and standard of living.

“The experience not only transforms lives, it helps students develop the kind of talent and perspective that are essential to becoming effective, values-driven leaders,” said Matt McGraw, president and CEO of Data Systems International and executive committee member of the Downtown Council.

The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association estimates the economic impact of the convention at $4.3 million. This is based on spending by the attendees and the organization.

Attendees will be housed at the Aladdin Hotel & Spa, Crowne Plaza Kansas City – Downtown, Hotel Phillips and Marriott Kansas City Downtown. The Marriott will serve as the headquarter hotel. Convention activities will take place at the Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Facilities.

Crossroads Academy, a tuition free elementary school, is in its first year of preparing students to excel in high school through an academically rigorous K-8 education. The KCPT story will appear as part of The Local Show, the public television station’s weekly program devoted to stories in the greater Kansas City area. 

Randy Mason, the program’s executive producer, said the story looks at how the school’s urban location is providing students with unique cultural and civic educational opportunities and giving parents who live in the downtown area a neighborhood school option.

“Our vision at the Crossroads Academy is to be the premier urban school serving Kansas City’s youth and a destination for other educators seeking inspiration and best practices,” said Dean Johnson, executive director and co-founder.

KCPT works in partnership with the Downtown Council to identify and produce a minimum of four stories per year on topics of strategic importance to Downtown. The Crossroads Academy story is the second story this year that falls in this agreement. The first story on the burgeoning Silicon Prairie tech district in the Crossroads made its debut in March.

Remember… 7 p.m. Thursday, May 23 on KCPT channel 19. You won’t want to miss it!

Sean O’Byrne and Bill Dietrich, Image Courtesy of the Kansas City Star

The Downtown Council is moving this week to a new office suite at 10th & Walnut that overlooks the future streetcar line on Main Street.

Even though the new space is less than a half block from the current location, the new offices in the Commerce Bank Building will be bathed in natural sunlight thanks to large windows on the west and north.

“We are looking forward to the sunlight and the views of Downtown and the Central Library,” said Bill Dietrich, president and CEO. “The space illuminates who we are and what we do – continuously working to turn up the intensity, or the lights, of Downtown Kansas City.”

The DTC staff will be moving for the rest of this week, so they ‘ll be ready to open for business in their new space on Monday, May 20. A special grand opening reception is planned for 4-6 p.m. Friday, June 7.

Effective Monday, the new DTC address will be 1000 Walnut St., Suite 200, Kansas City, MO 64106. The phone and website will remain the same: 816-421-1539, FAX 816-421-1661 and www.downtownkc.org.

Click here to learn more.

McGraw Station, Seattle

The City and the Downtown Streetcar project design team met last week with property owners along the streetcar route to discuss the design of streetcar stops.  Meetings were held in the River Market, Central Business District and Crossroads to gather input on the design of the  shelters, benches/leaning rails, way-finding signs and other stop amenities. 

The City also wants to hear from you and learn your preferences regarding the overall look and feel of the stops as well as configuration preferences, color schemes and amenities.

Take the Survey Now (click here) (Survey will be available until May 24)

During the project, Charlotte Street’s la Esquina operates as the rises Zora informational hub, archive, and installation center featuring a two person exhibition with artists Chris Daharsh and Gerry Trilling, and a site-specific installation from collaborators artist James Woodfill and architect David Dowell. In addition, rises Zora features multiple, varying public programs taking place in locations across the entire metro area.

Date: Opening Reception, May 10, 6-9pm, FREE
Location: la Esquina / 1000 W 25th St. KCMO 64108
rises Zora Project Runs: May 10 – June 15, 2013
Project Website: www.risesZora.virb.com
Public programs: for dates, times, and locations for the over 15 different events view the Public Program Schedule and visitwww.risesZora.virb.com; the majority of events are FREE and open to the public (a few require advance RSVP).

#1 Rock On!

• May 11: Rockfest @ Liberty Memorial 

#2 Memorial Day Celebration

• May 26: Celebration at the Station @ Union Station

#3 Play that funky music

• May 18: Jammin’ at the Gem with Alex Bugnon & Cindy Bradley @ Gem Theater
• May 18: Downtown Hoedown with Clay Walker @ Power & Light District
• May 21: Of Monsters and Men @ Crossroads KC
• May 22: Soundgarden @ Midland

#4 Fashionistas!

• May 17: Rock the Block Fashion Show @ Power & Light District
• June 8: West 18^th Street Fashion Show @ Crossroads

Downtown Art Annual coming to Power & Light

#5 Only in Downtown KC

• May 17: Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Movie @ Midland
• May 17-19: Downtown Art Annual @ Power & Light District
• May 20: WWE Raw @ Sprint Center

Click here to check out more of what’s happening in Downtown KC.

The DCID Executive Director Sean O’Byrne and Director Mark Rowlands recognized the employees that celebrated 10 years helping make Downtown clean and safe. (Pictured from left to right: Sean O’Byrne, Daniel Moon, Latasha Anthony, Mark Rowlands, Alex Bland, Santos Ramirez, Jeff Tubbs, Operations Manager, Ronell Bailey)

Employees of the Downtown Community Improvement Districts took time out recently to celebrate a major milestone in the life of Downtown Kansas City. The DCID celebrated its 10 anniversary this month — a decade of clean and safe leadership in Downtown. The CID  Ambassadors celebrated in style on Friday, April 19, as board members and Downtown Council colleagues acknowledged the accomplishments of the CIDs at the Annual Party at the Central Public Library.

The Annual Party is one of three events the DCID sponsors yearly to acknowledge the hard work the Ambassadors perform every day through every kind of Midwestern weather. This year, the DCID  had even more reason to celebrate after Ambassadors contributed to another successful month of March Madness with four collegiate basketball tournaments — NCAA regionals, Big 12 conference,  NAIA nationals and MIAA conference  – over three weeks at Sprint Center and Municipal Auditorium.

“Downtown is definitely a different place  from 10 years ago when the first yellow barrel hit the streets, the first graffiti tag came down and the first Bumblebee greeted that lonely Downtown employee with  a friendly smile. And Downtown is definitely a better place,” said Mark Rowlands, CID director. The CID Ambassadors represent the beginning of Downtown’s revitalization, as they began working daily to make Downtown clean and safe for residents, employees and visitors.

Buildings that once stood derelict have been converted into housing or new office space, the Sprint Center and the Power and Light District sprung to life, H&R Block moved back to the neighborhood and brought a lot of new friends with them, and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts changed the way the world sees Kansas City. Legoland Discovery Center and and the Sea Life Aquarium are here now to entertain the kid in all of us as Google Fiber is spreading across the city. And soon, Kansas City will have a streetcar again after nearly 50 years.

“Call us biased, but we like to think that the DCID had a lot to do with this incredible transformation,” Rowlands said.

The DCID Public Safety Ambassadors have been on the front lines to ensure a safe Downtown community while the Public Maintenance Ambassadors have been dedicated to making our streets clean and inviting. Below are some of the statistical highlights that have been achieved by the DCID Ambassadors over the last ten years.

KCATA Max Shelter

As part of continuing outreach efforts, the City and streetcar design team is conducting three meetings with property owners in the Central Business District/River Market/Crossroads on May 8 and 9, regarding the Downtown KC Streetcar project.

These meetings provide an important opportunity for you to weigh in on station shelter design options. The City is looking for input specifically on the design of the station shelters, benches/leaning rail, way finding, and other stop amenities.

We will present various station shelter options with different amenities and ask property and business owners and tenants along the route for your thoughts.

The meetings will take place:

• Central Business District – Wednesday, May 8, 10-11 a.m. at the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (1100 Walnut, Suite 1700)
• Crossroads – Wednesday, May 8, 3-4 p.m. at OfficePort (208 W. 19^th)
• River Market – Thursday, May 9, 3-4 p.m. at the Port Authority (300 Wyandotte, Suite 100)

These meetings are targeted by area, but if you are unable to attend the meeting for your area, feel free to attend one of the other two.  To ensure adequate seating and handouts, please RSVP to Nora Lockton, nlockton@burnsmcd.com or  (816) 822-3347.

Union Station — complete with the region’s largest extreme screen — will play host to the opening of Iron Man 3 in 3D beginning Friday.

The state of the art screen — a cool five stories tall and 80 feet wide — will come alive with Iron Man at a special preview showing at 9 p.m. tonight (Thursday, May 2). Five daily showtimes will begin at 10 a.m. Friday.

Since the Extreme Screen Theatre was updated a few months ago, guests have delighted to a string of major motion picture releases.

Marvel’s Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?