Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park is an urban park located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri's,

Central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, located at the northeast corner of 12th and Walnut Streets. Some notable buildings in the surrounding area are

One Kansas City Place One Kansas City Place is the tallest building in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, bounded by 12th Street to the north, Baltimore Avenue to the west, and Main Street to the east. Built in 1988, this 18 ...

Town Pavilion Town Pavilion is a 38-story skyscraper at 1111 Main Street on the northeast corner of 12th and Main Streets in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, around the corner from Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park. The tower occupies the former site of seve ...

, and the 1010 Grand Building. The park is often visited by businesspeople of the many surrounding buildings on lunch and coffee breaks. Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park was dedicated in 1981 and is named for the Oppenstein Brothers, who operated a retail jewelry business in Kansas City and were active in the community, and who are the namesakes of the Oppenstein Brothers Foundation, a Kansas City charitable organization established in 1975. The park was formerly the home to the Rain Thicket Fountain by William Conrad Severson and Saunders Schultz. Also dedicated in 1981, this was an abstract sculpture in a stylized tree-like form with wind-moved limbs which shot, dripped, and bubbled water, creating mists and rainbows. The park was redesigned and rebuilt in 2006-2008, with a rededication on April 18, 2008. This project was commissioned by the Art in the Loop Foundation, with design by Kansas City artist Laura DeAngelis and architect Dominique Davison. The new concept was named "Celestial Flyways" and was intended to celebrate the natural environment of the Kansas City area. The centerpiece of the new design is an interactive anaphoric star disc, an astronomical machine based on the anaphoric clock of antiquity. It is probably the largest and most accurate anaphoric star disc ever made. Park visitors can rotate the star disk to a display the stars for a given date and time with a motor operated by buttons on the base.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://www.makeyourdayhere.com/Facilities/Facility/Details/Oppenstein-Brothers-Memorial-Park-15 , title=Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park , publisher=Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department , accessdate=March 25, 2017 {{cite web , url=https://accessphilanthropy.com/funders/oppenstein-brothers-foundation/ , title=Oppenstein Brothers Foundation , work=Access Philanthropy , accessdate=March 25, 2017 {{cite web , url=http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID:siris_ari_319415 , title=Rain Thicket Fountain, (sculpture) , publisher=Smithsonian Institution , accessdate=March 25, 2017 {{cite web , url=https://www.astrolabes.org/pages/anaphoric.htm , title=Celestial Flyways , author= James E. Morrison , date= , work=The Astrolabe , accessdate=March 25, 2017

External links

Detailed description and photographs
Parks in the Kansas City metropolitan area Geography of Kansas City, Missouri Tourist attractions in Kansas City, Missouri Downtown Kansas City Protected areas established in 1981 1981 establishments in Missouri