MAINSTREETKC

Haven’t kicked the habit, but want to keep Kansas City litter-free?

We have cup holder and pocket ash trays for any civic-minded smokers! Get yours at the next MainCor event, or distribute them in your business or community by contacting leandra@maincor.org for a pickup!

5th Annual
PARTY IN THE PARKING LOT!

Thursday, May 17
11:30-1pm
The MainCor Parking Lot
3215 Main St. 

Join us under the big tent for food, cupcakes, and fun as we celebrate the fifth year of the Main St. CID! Get to know your neighbors, area businesses, and your CID Red Shirts! Click here for more information.

Revamp gives a boost to Kansas City’s Main Street:
New lights, signs and businesses are all part of the effort to bring attention to the overlooked street in Midtown.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/30/3585855/revamp-gives-a-boost-to-kansas.html#.T5_Jik-6Sfk.facebook

These businesses have each made recent investments in their properties and the Midtown community that go above and beyond the ordinary. We thank them for their commitment to Main Street and their part in building a better future, together.

Conklin Fangman Motors

After being shut down by General Motors for its “inconvenient location” at 3200 Main, Conklin Fangman Motors fought back to reopen the store and restore the centrally-located service to Midtown customers.  In late 2010, it was resurrected as the only New Car dealership in downtown Kansas City, also providing mechanical and body work, used vehicles, and shuttle service.

MAC Apartments

As Armour Boulevard’s old hotels and homes emerge from the rubble left by years of blight, we have MAC Apartments to thank.  The Chicago-based company has renovated countless numbers of historically significant structures into affordable and attractive living space, restoring the once-prominent neighborhood back into a place of brilliance.

Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre

A 2008 move to 3614 Main Street led to the renovation and combination of three adjacent buildings, a bright and noticeable new façade, and a sudden explosion of talent and creativity to the quiet stretch of Main Street.  The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre’s aim to foster innovative talent promises a vibrant future for our community.

Redeemer Fellowship

Redeemer is a interdenominational church with a unique interest in community development.  Although a resident of neighboring Baltimore Avenue since 2008, Redeemer Fellowship has acquired and improved several historic, unused, and problematic properties along Main as a part of their objective to serve the welfare of their neighborhoods and city.

Reeves-Wiedeman Co.

In 2009, the local, family-owned business Reeves-Wiedeman Co. announced the purchase of 3635 Main and the rehabilitation project that would eventually earn it one of the few LEED Gold certifications in Kansas City, as well as numerous awards.  The beautiful restoration of the historic, but long-vacant, building set a standard for other rehab projects in the area.

The Whole Person

3710 Main is under massive construction to restore the historic Goodenow Textile building into a universally-designed, environmentally-friendly home base for The Whole Person, a nonprofit that provides services to people with disabilities.  Bringing with it around 80 jobs to Main Street, the project could be completed as soon as late 2012, uncovering once more a hidden gem in the dust.

Buy your tickets today!

These businesses have sustained a model presence of good business on Main Street throughout the years. Each has contributed to the liveliness and authenticity of the corridor in their own unique way, and we honor these contributions with this award.

Ambrosi Bros. Cutlery

Although originally serving the Kansas City area from its first mobile location in a van, the family-owned Ambrosi Bros. Cutlery has earned a reputation from its home at 3023 Main as the best gourmet kitchen supplier and knife sharpener around.  

Luyben Music

Located at 4318 Main Street, Luyben Music has been within the Luyben family since its creation in 1947.  This internationally-ranked supplier of sheet music has loyally called Main Street home since 1951.

Pryde’s

As an active member of the Westport community, Pryde’s specialty in cookware, kitchen gadgets, and hard-to-find kitchen supplies is only one of the many contributions the family-owned business had made to Midtown since it moved to 115 Westport Road in 1973. 

Thriftway

Serving Kansas City from its longtime home at 3967 Main, Thriftway has been the neighborhood grocer since 1989.  Providing fresh produce, affordable food, and everyday needs in an environment that provides few alternatives, Main Thriftway has been a vital part of the Main Street community since its beginnings.

Trapp & Co.

When Bob Trapp was just getting started, he hadn’t dreamed that his little Westport floral business would one day serve clientele on an international scale.  Since 1969, Trapp & Co. has served the Kansas City community and beyond from its home here in Midtown.

Unicorn Theatre

Having moved to 3828 Main Street in 1986 when it was only a small brick garage, the Unicorn has since made its reputation as an award-winning company with a penchant for taking risks with unknown plays and writers, winning the theatre numerous local and national awards.

Buy your tickets today!

Our very own Diane Burnette will be on KCUR’s Central Standard tomorrow from 10-11 in a segment titled “Main Street USA”. She’ll be talking about YOUR Main Street, Kansas City, so tune in, stream it, or podcast it later:

http://kcur.org/programs/central-standard

Just south of the intersection of Main Street and Westport Road, a space in the sidewalk inset with a large eight-point star and nine medallions tells a story of Main Street’s long history.  During The Main Event on May 1st, this space will be dedicated to the memory of Thomas G. Patterson, a man who helped shape this history by making Kansas City’s welfare a personal endeavor.

Tom was a vital part of the Midtown community, using his talents to become a trusted and successful visionary and leader at Hallmark/Crown Center Redevelopment.  While success at Crown Center would have been enough for most, he was also very involved in the creation of Kansas City’s Greater Downtown Area Plan, he worked with Hospital Hill stakeholders, and luckily for us, Tom chose to bring his skills and talents to revitalize, serve, and lead at MainCor.

He understood how the relationships between the Main Street business interests and the neighborhoods are woven into the core of this City.  He respected and loved those neighborhoods and he also appreciated and respected the needs of the business community.  He demonstrated how to work with both of these interests by ensuring that MainCor gave all a place at the table.  In doing so, he achieved improvements that were great—not just good—for everyone. 

Main Street is the heart of the City and Tom was the heart of MainCor.  By pursuing his vision for Main Street and Penn Valley Park, he made the entire metropolitan area a better place.  When people come from outside the city they will see Tom’s vision as they head to the Country Club Plaza, Crown Center, Crossroads and Downtown.  They will feel a sense of place that is attractive and safe.  We hope that others will look at Tom’s leadership and realize that talents can be used to make this city, this country, this world a better place for everyone.

His wife, Wynne, and children, will be present at The Main Event for the Plaza dedication and the lowering of the time capsule.

These notable organizations have all transformed their portion of Main Street, bringing with them a lasting positive impact upon community. 

American Century Investments

The internationally-acclaimed, Kansas City-based investment management firm moved to 4500 Main Street in 1987.  Over a thousand employees of American Century and other companies are based in the two towers, supporting the Main Street Community Improvement District and the community’s overall well-being.

Contract Furnishings

Before Contract Furnishings moved to Main Street, the block was near vacant of tenants.  However, once the commercial furniture company moved in and rehabbed the old building at 3129 Main in 1995, new life began to move in, including major institutions such as the Children’s TLC Campus, Home Depot, Costco, and the Federal Reserve Bank. 

Federal Reserve Bank

The Federal Reserve Bank’s 2008 move to 1 Memorial Drive, at Main and 28^th Street, was an integral one – the massively impressive building houses one of the country’s twelve regional Reserve banks throughout the country, and relocated roughly 200 workers from downtown Kansas City to Main Street.

Gates & Sons BBQ

The old Rax Sandwich building at 3205 Main was left vacant until barbeque powerhouse Gates & Sons BBQ moved in around 1995, reintroducing a locally-owned Kansas City specialty to the area.  Now, the restaurant’s distinguished look (and taste) attracts both local and out-of-town visitors to Main Street for some of Kansas City’s favorite cuisine.

Hallmark Cards / Crown Center Redevelopment

One of the country’s first mixed-use redevelopment projects began in the late 1960s by the Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation on the eastern side of Main and Pershing.  A blighted 85 acres became home to retail, office space, hotels, living space, and entertainment, attracting five million visitors every year.

Union Hill

What started as Bob Frye’s college thesis in 1982 became a passion to reset the clock for the Union Hill neighborhood. The ticking of the clock has brought tremendous change as new and renovated townhomes, apartments and commercial spaces took over blighted and desolate properties. Once Union Hill established a stable environment, hundreds of other large and small property owners joined in by investing and improving their properties, allowing the Union Hill neighborhood to capture once again its former glory.

Buy your tickets today!