Camp KC and the Pitch are both reporting the possibility of a new life in the entertainment district on Broadway at Valentine Road.
According to John Long in Camp, Kansas City has seen a decrease in the number of gay bars, but the numbers may be increasing with an announcement from the owners of Hamburger Mary’s KC. They’ve said in a press release they plan to relocated the popular Mary’s to the Uptown Theater and launch three additional restaurants and/or bars in the Uptown Shoppes at 3600 Broadway.
According to Eric Christensen and Jeff Edmondson, owners of ECCO Holdings, in a press release: “We love the fact that the Uptown area has a history of open-minded entertainment. With the great acts the Uptown Theater is bringing in, the growing presence of the Uptown Arts Bar, and the new Broadway Jazz Club, we feel like the time is perfect to add to this mix the uniqueness that is Hamburger Mary’s KC, as well as three or four other concepts that Kansas City is lacking in right now. We look forward to bringing back what was once a very vibrant entertainment area.”
The owners said the first step would be the opening of a video bar in the Uptown Lounge next to the Uptown, followed by the move of Hamburger Mary’s into the theater’s Conspiracy Room in 2014. That would be followed by their opening of a sports bar and Tex Mex microbrewery/dance venue in the Uptown Shoppes in 2015.
If the plans come to fruition, the new establishments would join the Uptown Arts Bar on Broadway and the planned Broadway Jazz Club, set to open this month.
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