UMKC students offer downtown arts campus ideas

File photo.

Architecture, Urban Planning and Design students at UMKC have focused this semester on ideas for the proposed downtown arts campus, working on plans to maximize the development’s value as a neighborhood and community asset.

The students have worked with local and national firms and will showcase their ideas on Wed., Dec. 10 at 2:30 p.m. in Room 101 of Katz Hall on the UMKC campus, 5005 Rockhill Rd.

Here’s more information from UMKC:

Students in Urban Planning + Design Studio I are exploring the opportunities and constraints of site planning and urban design on blocks immediately adjacent (east, south, and west) to the UMKC Conservatory Site in the Crossroads and Westside neighborhoods of Downtown Kansas City, Mo.

Students in the Second Year Architectural Studies Studio focused on a hypothetical mixed-use retail and residential development on the corner of 17th & Baltimore. The program includes a musical instrument and accessory store for future students of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, a café/coffee bar, and five student apartments. In that studio, students are vying in a competition for the annual Bud Prize, established in 2004 with Helix / Architecture + Design to honor Edwin S. “Bud” Persons, who was a Senior Interior Architect with Helix. A jury of faculty and professional architects will judge the work on Dec. 11, and a public showing will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday Dec. 12 in Room 101 of Katz Hall.

Students in Urban Planning + Design Studio III are continuing the planning work associated with the Performing Arts Campus with a semester-long project to create a comprehensive plan for the project that sought to answer these questions:  How will this campus be integrated into and enhance three communities – institutional, professional and public – both physically and programmatically? The public is invited to a project unveiling from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday Dec. 15 in a gallery near the site, at 122 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.

The site for the UMKC Performing Arts Campus covers a full city block bounded by Broadway, Central, 17th and 18th streets, directly south of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The UMKC effort represents a multi-decade plan that was identified as one of the top civic priorities for the region by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Phase I of the plan calls for moving the Conservatory to the site; more than $30 million has already been raised for the effort.