Kansas City Crossroads District (31507881750)

The Crossroads (officially the Crossroads Arts District) is a neighborhood within Greater Downtown with a population of 7,491. It is centered at approximately 19th Street and Baltimore Avenue, directly south of the Downtown Loop and north of

Crown Center Crown Center is a shopping center and neighborhood located near Downtown Kansas City, Missouri between Gillham Road and Main Street to the east and west, and between OK/E 22nd St and E 27th St to the north and south. The shopping center is ...

. It is the city's main art gallery district and center for the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

. Dozens of galleries are located in its renovated warehouses and industrial buildings. It is also home to numerous restaurants,

housewares Household goods are goods and products used within households. They are the tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator. Economic role Businesses that produce household goods are categorize ...

shops,

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

designers A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

, an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

, and other visual artists. The district also has several live music venues. Numerous buildings in the neighborhood are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, including the TWA Corporate Headquarters Building,

Western Auto Building The Western Auto Building, first known as the Coca-Cola Building or the Candler Building, after owner Asa Griggs Candler, is located at 2107 Grand Boulevard, in the Crossroads neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. Built in 1914, it later served ...

, and Firestone Building. There are two historic groups of buildings also on the Register—Working Class Hotels at 19th & Main Streets ( Midwest Hotel, Monroe Hotel, and Rieger Hotel) and Crossroads Historic Freight District (industrial buildings clustered along the tracks north of

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

). The Crossroads district is also home to one of the county's largest remaining examples of a Film Row district. The Film Row district consists of 17 buildings. Following the demolition of a Film Row building, the Film Row district was placed on Missouri Preservation's 2013 list of "watched properties." The '' Kansas City Star'' and ''

The Pitch The Pitch may refer to: * "The Pitch" (''Seinfeld'') * ''The Pitch'' (TV series), an AMC original series * ''The Pitch'' (podcast), an American podcast * ''The Pitch'' (newspaper), a newspaper in Kansas City * A segment in '' The Gruen Transfer ...

'' maintain offices in the neighborhood, along with HOK and Barkley. The Belger Arts Center is also located in the district.

First Fridays

Art galleries generally open new shows on the first Friday of each month from 6 to 9 pm. This has become one of the region's most popular regular events as thousands of people flock to the Crossroads for gallery "open houses" amidst the Crossroad's unique atmosphere.

Crossroads Music Festival

First held in late August 2005, the Crossroads Music Festival is an annual event organized by Spice of Life Productions, which features local music artists. The 2005 event was held at Grinder's Sculpture Park (Crossroads KC) at 18th Street and Locust Street. In addition to concert performances, offerings include

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s by local independent filmmakers and booths offering apparel by local designers, local independent print media, and carnival games.

Tax abatements

In 2007, one of Kansas City's development agencies began a program to allow property tax abatements for art-related business who would otherwise be priced out of the neighborhood by fast-rising property values. Neighborhood leaders lobbied for the program to prevent the "Soho Effect" of gentrification. Tax abatements had been granted to developers to attract new residents to the neighborhood with high-end condominiums and lofts next to the galleries.

References

External links

''Crossroads Community Association''

''Nicholson Group Vision for this area''
* Map: {{Crossroads Arts District Culture of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri Entertainment districts in the United States Tourist attractions in Kansas City, Missouri Arts districts Downtown Kansas City

First Fridays

Crossroads Music Festival

Tax abatements

See also

References

External links