Unfettered Letters

‘Bored’ with convenience at KCI

I agree with the letter writer (1/3) who said it’s time to bulldoze the three KCI Airport terminals.

As a longtime flyer, I am growing bored with KCI’s excellent service, easy access to ticket counters, quick and simple security screening, uncomplicated luggage return and convenient parking. I long for the pushy crowds, long waits, half-mile walks, impossible parking and palpable anxiety of the big centralized terminal systems like Chicago’s O’Hare, Atlanta’s Hartsfield or California’s Los Angeles International Airport.

So bring on the bulldozers, and let the excitement of chaos begin!

Shirley Phillips
Stilwell

Save the Imperial Brewery building

I agree with Ted Caster (1/1, Letters) that the preservation of the old Imperial Brewery building would be a beautiful addition to the commute up Interstate 35 into Kansas City. It is also important to remember that, according to the United States Green Building Council, “40 percent of the total solid waste stream in the U.S. comes from construction and demolition.”

It would be a shame to add so much waste while destroying such a nice old building.

Further, as the council also points out, by reusing the building there would be a reduction in the impact on the environment from raw material extraction, manufacture and transportation — another important and worthy goal.

Brian Brookbank
Merriam

Time to update KCI

Siding with a long-range airport plan, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to bow to modernity and start over again at KCI, with one major terminal instead of three.

For years after KCI opened, I loved going there, walking on the polished parquet floors (long gone) and enjoying the ease of access. Plus, the terminals were new and relatively appealing visually.

But over the years, things have changed. In recent visits to the airport, I’ve found a dark and gloomy place with not an inkling of energy or excitement. Yes, the terminals are still convenient, but I think the funereal atmosphere and the lack of light and amenities, including food options, have cast the die.

Kansas City has become a more dynamic, more competitive city, thanks largely to the Sprint Center and the Power & Light District. Now we need an airport that parallels our overall resurgence.

For comparison, just look at the nearby St. Louis, Louisville and Chicago Midway airports. All are miles ahead of KCI on almost every level, and they generate the excitement that should attend most travel experiences.

Bring on the dozers. The three-terminal era is done.

Jim Fitzpatrick
Kansas City

Preserve KC’s historic buildings

I’m a photographer, and I’ve been in the vacant Imperial brewery near Cambridge Circle dozens of times over the past seven years, so Mike Hendricks’ column (12/24, Local, “Plans drafted for old brewery”) jumped out at me immediately. I just wanted to pose the other side of this argument.

Kansas City is great because it has old buildings. Union Station, the New York Life Building, Mainstreet Theater, Fidelity National Bank Building, the TWA Building and the Freight House Building, among others, were vacant for years, even decades, before they were rehabilitated. I would encourage those who rush to condemn these places as a “five-story heap of bricks” to curb the harsh language.

This city has the character it does because we chose to save the buildings that have shaped our history. We need to err on the side of preservation instead of demolition, eyesore or not.

Ted Caster
Kansas City

Bigger house isn't better

We live in a time of excess: high levels of energy consumption, record debt per household, a real estate crisis and rapid growth in urban centers. How much larger do our houses need to be? To suggest that tearing down an affordable, existing, functional house to build a nearly four-times-larger McMansion is alarming and irresponsible, especially in Prairie Village (8/3, House + Home, "Portrait of a teardown").

Across our nation, the "teardown" epidemic is creating irreversible damage. The desire to move into older neighborhoods is commendable, but not at the cost of losing basic character. Teardowns force neighborhoods into a spiral of real estate speculation and escalating costs, leaving residents no control. With increasing energy costs and climate change, we must re-examine our need for larger homes. Small is more relevant than ever.

Teardowns wedge large houses in place of affordable houses in neighborhoods where economic and social diversity is needed to keep communities vital.

Is the teardown creating an uncontrollable escalation of demolition, unbridled waste and jeopardy to urban fabric? We must remember to value diversity, tree canopy, sunlight, open space and lower carbon footprint.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has more information at www.preservationnation.org/issues/teardowns.

Anne Lindberg
Kansas City

Old style in New Longview

Kevin Collison clearly recognizes the benefit of traditional neighborhood design. So why does he suggest that New Longview is somehow not “authentic” because it’s new construction? (6/10, Business, “New homes in old style are quite an attraction”)

It’s true our architecture and urban design are reminiscent of J.C. Nichols’ glorious neighborhoods of old (front porches, sidewalks, tree-lined streets), but our homes have modern features such as spacious closets and open floor plans. We walk to Longview Farm Elementary and to shops and restaurants.

In other words, New Longview homes are functional, affordable and have the “look” — meeting all three of architect Marianne Cusato’s essentials of good design.

Besides all that, New Longview is a part of the award-winning, multimillion-dollar restoration of the last remaining historic structures of the R.A. Long country estate, Longview Farm. We’re not a “knockoff.” We’re an authentic Lee’s Summit neighborhood of great homes, great schools, stores, offices, parks, wonderful neighbors and a great sense of community.

Kathleen Ehrenreich
New Longview homeowner and CFO, Gale Communities
Lee’s Summit

Red Bridge project

As a Red Bridge Road area resident, I appreciate the public input process that the city undertook with BWR (Bucher Willis & Ratliff Corp.) consultants.

It showed the true consensus in the area for a real bridge over the railroad tracks and Blue River with at least a three-lane road, sidewalk and trail from Holmes to Grandview Road.

I ask our city leaders to help the project move forward per the BWR study and take the “Friends of Red Bridge” group input for what it is — a minority opinion that does not reflect reality.

Dan Packard
Kansas City

Cartoon wasn’t nice

Judge’s cartoon of Saturday (1/11) with the caption “The Bloch Building wins an award: Best tool shed 2007” was ill-timed, mean-spirited and unnecessary.

The very negative cartoon appeared only days after the Bloch Building was declared by Time magazine the No. 1 international “architectural marvel” of 2007 (1/9, Local, “Buildings in nation’s spotlight; The Nelson’s Bloch Building and the Liberty Memorial put KC on the map with architecture awards”).

Of greater significance is the callous disregard for the feelings of the Bloch family, the museum and the many supporters and friends of the Nelson.

In your defense, the cartoon did motivate my second letter to the editor in the 50 years as a Star subscriber and reader.

Charles Glenn
Kansas City

New Paseo Bridge

I read that the design for the new I-35 bridge over the Missouri River is now in jeopardy because of a perceived conflict with the Federal Aviation Administration over landing patterns at the Wheeler Downtown Airport (12/14, A-1). It seems the mid-span support column will be too high and interfere with certain approaches to the airport.

The article also said that the FAA acknowledges that it really cannot prevent the design from being built as is.

So I vote for building the bridge as designed, post haste. Let the FAA figure out what to do about its landing patterns and let motorists (who would benefit most from the new bridge) have our signature river crossing. Do not delay! Time is precious!

Timothy Earl Osburn
Parkville

The FAA’s recent issue with the new Paseo Bridge is just plain silly. It seems the FAA would like to keep Kansas City a cow town forever. If we were to accept its position, we could put in place a lovely concrete deck bridge with no redeeming aesthetic qualities whatsoever.

But wait, we would also need to keep building construction under 10 stories in height. In consideration of the FAA and the executive jets at Wheeler Airport, we should raze all buildings over 10 stories and begin immediate bulldozing to lower the surrounding hillsides over 96 feet in height. Then we would be truly in line with the lyric: “Everything is up to date in Kansas City. We’ve gone about as fer as we can go…”

The real question should be: What is Wheeler Airport doing to contribute to the economic future of Kansas City? Is it profitable? If not, perhaps we should close it and redevelop it with businesses and living spaces which will contribute to a sound economic future for Kansas City.

S. Preston Moore
Overland Park

Sprint Center

I recently saw my first event at the new Sprint Center and left with three strong impressions.

1. The glitz of the computer graphics, the exterior of the building and the showmanship were spectacular.
2. A rotating advertising sign in front of the scorer’s table is a standard feature in all new arenas, but the one in the Sprint Center is very annoying because it constantly spins instead of every four to five minutes as in other arenas. The advertisers are paying big money for signs that are annoying and distract from the event.
3. The quality of the building materials appeared to be far below what is normally used in public buildings. The interior walls are drywall and paint. Repairs will be weekly if the building is to remain attractive. The dividers on the handrails for the stairways are made of clear plastic and will be scratched and unattractive within months.

The Sprint Center must be the only public building built in the past 15 years with manual instead of automatic flush valves on the urinals. Within months, handles will be missing and they will not flush. If I spotted these three things in one trip, there must be hundreds more shortcuts that will cost the city huge maintenance and repair bills very soon.

This is what can be expected when the city turns over money to an out-of-town contractor with no local ties. When J.E. Dunn built Kemper Arena and ran over the budget, it found ways to get in the basics with good quality. I remember them donating the concrete stairways on the four corners of the building to keep in the budget.

Ken Landes
Blue Springs