Times to Deliver
easy to do back then—would scarcely believe his eyes had he woken up
in March 2008.
How to explain the tens of thousands of people flocking to the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament in that seeming spaceage building in the middle of Downtown called the Sprint Center?
How to explain the thousands more here for the Women’s Big 12 Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium streaming through and around the Power & Light Entertainment District in the nine-block area immediately south of KC’s Central Business District?
How to explain the 20,000 people who live downtown, most of whom did not live here ten years ago, and the revitalized condos in which they live?
How to explain the beautiful iconic H&R Block corporate headquarters and the massive new IRS headquarters and the new Federal Reserve Bank and the new Kansas City Star production plant and the expanded Bartle Hall Convention Center and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts now under construction south of Bartle Hall?
How to explain the fully reborn Freight House District in which we at Show-Me Publishing have staked our investment?
Then, once Rip wiped the ten-year accumulation of sleep out of his eyes and came to his senses, he might just ask himself, “How did we pay for all this?” and for that he might have a hard time finding an answer.
Mayor Mark Funkhouser is struggling with that very question right now. And knowing the Mayor, he is more likely to spend his energy making the project work than he is finding someone to blame for the occasionally unmoored excess.
We at Ingram’s are of the same opinion. For the last decade, while we have sometimes questioned the mechanics of this massive redevelopment, we have never stopped cheerleading for its success and strategically positioning Downtown’s future.
Downtown Kansas City has a ways to go before it achieves world-class status. We all realize this, but it’s heading that direction rapidly. A major sports franchise would do wonders in solidifying this investment, and yet, despite the promises of the developer and assurance of city leaders to deliver, we do not see the NBA or NHL on the horizon, at least anytime soon.
The other question is if Kansas City can support another major league franchise. A few weeks ago we attended the Rockets v Denver Nuggets game in Houston and sat literally courtside on row one—face value: $910. Though these were the most expensive seats in Toyota Center, entry level NBA prices are still pricey. If KC were to recruit an NBA or NHL franchise, it may be at the expense of the Royals. If the Royals don’t field a winning team, the fans and sponsors will continue to erode—renovated stadium or not.
On the entertainment side, Downtown Kansas City has seen a good level of interest and support for concerts and entertainment events at Sprint Center and has exceeded most expectations.
It is time to get beyond the doubts and recriminations and make KC’s Downtown really work. At Ingram’s and Show-Me Publishing we have made an investment, which, for us, is comparable or perhaps larger in scope to the investment the city has made Downtown.
The most recent example of this investment is Destination Kansas City, a publication and an arsenal of integrated websites designed to educate prospects and drive investment to the greater Kansas City area. This edition of Ingram’s and Destination Kansas City, for example, will reach 150,000 prospective investors throughout North America. Organizations that benefit from investment in the KC area should support our mission to support (y)our business interests. We appreciate our project partners and advertisers for helping to make the Destination Kansas City project one of the best investment attraction tool in the bi-state region.
As Benjamin Franklin once said, “We either hang together or hang separately.” We invite you to hang together with us and the future of this great city.
There will be ups and downs in the future. We know that, but down or up, no one is more bullish on greater Kansas City’s future—and the future of Missouri and Kansas—than we at Ingram’s are. 
Joe Sweeney
Editor-In-Chief & Publisher
JSweeney@IngramsOnLine.com