DowntownKC.net

(Press Release) Kansas City, MO - Hot off the heels of the very successful Big 12 Basketball Tournament celebration, the exciting new Kansas City Power & Light District is poised to welcome throngs of St. Patrick’s Day revelers.

While not affiliated with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Kansas City Power & Light District is situated on Grand Boulevard, adjacent to the end-point of the parade route. The KC Live! Stage and courtyard will be abuzz with activity throughout the day as the restaurants welcome Kansas Citians to celebrate downtown. Raglan Road, the newest addition to the KC Irish scene, will play host to all Irish, and Irish-for-a-Day, with live music, food and beverage, all inside the authentic pub constructed in Ireland. McFadden’s Sports Saloon, is another of the 13 total restaurants and clubs that will celebrate with Kansas City as the town turns green. McFadden’s will feature breakfast beginning at 8:00am.

The KC Live! Stage will light up the scene when Halfway to Hazard takes the stage at 5:30pm. The nationally celebrated band from Kentucky will bring their "little bit country, little bit rock and roll" attitude to the celebration with a free concert.

Date: Monday, March 17th, 2008
Activities begin 8:00 a.m.

Location:  The Kansas City Live! Block of the Kansas City Power & Light District located between 13th Street and 14th Street and between Grand Blvd. and Walnut St.

The MyFOXKC Power & Light blog answers a question I’ve had about scalping tickets at the Sprint Center (or anywhere else in the city for that matter).

If you’re heading down to the Sprint Center, you’re likely to see a bunch of scalpers. Scalping is legal if you just have a pair of tickets you need to sell off. But, professional scalpers have to make their way to City Hall to get a business license. Four professional sellers did get cited Thursday for not having a license.

StubHub.com is still the best way to get rid of any extra tickets you may have in my opinion.

Local blogger Ramsey is back with another video from the Power and Light district. This one from Friday night when the Big XII Tournament was going on next door at the Sprint Center. This even includes an interview with WDAF sports anchor Frank Boal to get his thoughts on the district.

So, I had a great time in the area yesterday. We weren’t able to find a table to eat and watch the KU game because every place was packed, so we ended up at Minskys in the River Market. Afterwards, we headed up to the Power and Light district to partake in the festivities with what seemed like about 7,000 other people. Every bar had a line to get in, and the Live block was completely packed with KU fans. We first spent some time at the Gordon Biersch Brewery then ended the evening upstairs at Angel’s Rock Bar. Everyone had a great time, and it really proved how both the P&L district and the Sprint Center feed off each other. Maybe Kansas City is now regretting not taking the opportunity for a downtown ballpark when it had the chance. Oh well, maybe it’ll happen in 2030 when the current lease expires. *rolls eyes*

Oh, while upstairs, I did see a new bar called “Big Sky” is opening up next to Angel’s Rock Bar on April 10th, and this appears to be the district’s country bar. I’m hoping for something a little more Coyote Ugly and not another Beaumont Club. I did come across this video on YouTube showing some of the construction going on inside from a few weeks back.

P.S. Tengo sed Cantina is developing quite the reputation as a “spring break” type bar with the bikini pole dancers. Most of the females I’ve talked to who have visited this bar aren’t really impressed. I haven’t had a chance to experience it myself yet though.

3 new businesses are open at 412 Delware.

• Bella River Market
• Hair Spray Cafe
• Eljays River Market

I’ve been to Eljays a couple times, and it’s great to have another coffee shop (with free wi-fi) in the area.

I did a big update to the Power and Light district tenant list page, so be sure to check it out. Included is a very useful interactive map of the district that highlights who is open or coming soon, along with their location.

I’ve also begun creating individualized pages for each tenant which I hope will contain useful information. So far I’ve added pages for Vinino and Raglan Road. Let me know if there is additional info that you feel should be added to those pages.

I came across this map on kansascitylightrail.org of the possible light rail routes the city is currently debating. It’s hosted on Google maps, so yes, you can scroll around.

I’m not sure what the difference between the blue and yellow lines are. Hmm…

The optimal routes for the light rail to be successful in Kansas City are:

• Use the current MAX route as a guide. KC is lucky in that most everything worth going to is in a straight line; river market, downtown, crown center, westport, plaza, brookside, waldo.
• Given that the average cost / mile of light rail is about $60-$70 million, auxiliary lines need to be carefully thought out. Westport to the sports complex is a straight shot and makes a lot of sense. I don’t think a Waldo to the Zoo would be used enough to make it worth $250 million. Downtown to the Speedway would cost $1 bilion, which makes it way out of the realm of possibility.
• Stop by Zona Rosa on your way from downtown to the airport. No brainer

What route modifications would you like to see?

In the short time Raglan Road has been open, I’ve had two experiences there. The first was a friday evening, or maybe saturday morning, things got a bit hazy ;). The size of this pub was the first thing that struck me, it’s huge! I especially enjoyed the traditional irish decor as well as the layout which features three levels of dining, and a large open bar area alongside a stage for the performers. The bartenders were prompt & friendly, and the atmosphere was busy, but calm.

My second experience was this afternoon when I went there for dinner. I ordered the chutney burger which was unlike any burger I’ve had before, but it was fantastic. My girfriend ordered the steak strip salad and soup, which was equally as good. The menu is limited for the next month or two until they have a chance to expand it. Dinner for two along with two pints of Guiness was $40 + tip, which is about average for dining downtown.

The only problem I had with Raglan Road was absence of TVs, which unfortunately can be an issue for me considering St Patrick’s Day always falls during the same weekend as the conference basketball tournaments or the opening round of the NCAA tournament. As fun as it would be to celebrate St Patty’s day at Raglan Road, I think my time might be limited there during March because of this.

In all, I thought it was a great atmosphere, good food, very friendly staff, and a decent price. I look forward to going there sometime when the band and dancers are there.

Comments? Share them on the Raglan Road page.

• March 13-16, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Basketball Fan Fest, in partnership with the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission; 14th Street between Grand Boulevard and Walnut Street, plus Basketball Oasis tent at Grand and Truman Road; spirit rallies, games and activities; basketball shown on the outdoor video screen in the Live block directly across from Sprint Center. Also Road to Glory event on 14th Street featuring live jazz and images of Kansas City’s college basketball history.
• March 13, 4 p.m., concert in Live block by Jeff Jenkins & the International Band of Leisure
• March 14, 8:30 p.m., concert in Live block by Sister Hazel
• March 15, 6 p.m., concert in Live block by DJ Review
• March 16, 4 p.m., concert in Live block by Live Bracketology: Selection Sunday
• March 17, St. Patrick’s Day Fun Fest, 14th Street between Grand and Walnut plus tent at Grand and Truman; 5:30 p.m. concert in Live block by Halfway to Hazard
• May 14-18, daily and nightly, Spring Music Extravaganza, four days with multiple major acts and unique art and entertainment
• May 24-Aug. 30, Saturdays, Family Fun Series free games, education and activities under the clock tower near 14th and Walnut streets
• May 29-Aug. 28, Thursdays, Hot Country Nights, 15 shows, including Craig Morgan
• June 4-July 30, Wednesdays, Rock the Block, 10 shows, including Shiny Toy Guns
• June 28-29, Downtown Art Annual, juried art fair featuring more than 100 artists on the district’s streets
• Aug. 3-Aug. 31, Sundays, Blues Concert Series, five shows
• Aug. 7-Oct. 8, Wednesdays, Homegrown Music Series, eight shows
• First Friday events after the galleries close, 9 p.m. and later, live music, DJs and special events
• Live jazz and blues music will be played on the streets on select Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with the schedule to be announced.

More dates & announcements will come later.

Here are some links to recent articles that I thought I’d share.

• KC Star video preview of the Gorden Biersch opening
• Bowling alley, brewery restaurant added to Power & Light District
• Map of 113 restaurants downtown (pdf)
• KC prepares for onslaught of fans for Big 12 basketball tournaments
• AS I SEE IT: Big 12 Basketball championships offer exciting time for Kansas City and our new downtown
• Fireworks, concert kick off Power & Light lineup

Wow, what a fun night!

Last night marked the opening for many of the core tenants in the Live! block in Kansas City’s Power & Light district, and here’s a great video that was originally posted in the previous post’s comments, but it absolutely deserves its own post.

Video includes:

• Angels’ Rock Bar
• Howl at the Moon
• Raglan Road Irish Pub
• Tengo sed Cantina
• The Living Room
• Fuego

Update: Here is the original blog post.