Planned Law Firm Office Building Sparks Architectural Debate
A plan to demolish a historic building in Kansas City, Mo., in order to build an eight-story glass office building anchored by the Polsinelli Shughart law firm has sparked an ongoing architectural debate.
Even after the initial plans announced were modified to preserve the facade of the original Spanish-style balcony building known as the Country Club Plaza, critics were not satisfied, reports KCUR News, a local affiliate of National Public Radio, on its KC Currents program.
The plan would destroy the historic integrity and character of the building and eliminate the present walkable, pedestrian-oriented streetscape, a board member of the Historic Kansas City Foundation told the radio station.
This concern, objectors and others say, implicates a larger overall “place-making” issue of how best to make the entire area attractive to shoppers, restaurant patrons and moviegoers as well as affordable for residents.
However, others, including at least one merchant presently in the building, who owns a shoe store, point to the additional business that the law firm would presumably bring to the immediate area as a good thing and note that the city has been seeing business migrate to Kansas City, Kan., in recent years.
A planning commission review is scheduled for Oct. 5.
Additional coverage:
Kansas City Star (letter to the editor): “We owe Polsinelli Shughart thanks for coming to Plaza”
