JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Along with a handful of other people, I had the unique opportunity earlier this week to get a sneak preview of what the “new” Kansas City Museum is going to look like when it opens late next year.

As many of you are aware, the museum, which has been under the Kansas City Parks Department’s umbrella the last several years, is undergoing complete renovation. When all is said and done, the renovation will have cost $22 million. Six million of that is being raised privately by the museum foundation; $8 million is from the 2017 general-obligation bond issue; and the rest will come from the museum levy, which generates $1.7 million annually.

This is no superficial makeover, and that should be clear from the amount of money being spent. Museum director Anna Marie Tutera said the project is so sweeping that, to a degree, it’s a “start-up.”

“We’ve been around since 1940, and within the imprint of the museum’s rich history, we’re starting over,” she said.

All architectural features, inside and out, are getting a facelift (the so-called “architectural construction” is substantially complete); new exhibition spaces are being readied on the second and third floors; and all-new exhibits are being planned and prepared. That part of the work — the “museum construction” — is in the early stages.

Basically, the museum will tell the story of Kansas City, charting its development and exploring its rich history…For me, seeing the progress that has been made in the former mansion of lumber baron R.A. Long and his wife Ella was very exciting. I trust it will excite you, too, when it opens.

General admission will be free every day. The only charge will be for ongoing special exhibitions. Three new galleries — one on the second floor and two on the third — are being readied for special exhibitions.

And now some photos…

From the outside, the museum, the former R.A. Long mansion on Gladstone Boulevard, looks much the same.

One new feature will be a first-floor a soda fountain. It’s light and airy, and there’ll be plenty of room for visitors to rest their “museum legs” and relax.

The marble staircase just inside the main entrance

The leaded glass doors and windows at the top of the marble staircase

The library

The new ceiling in the living room

The arching ceiling (minus light fixture) in the former breakfast room. All new decorative detail work has been done in plaster.

Anna Marie Tutera (left) is the museum director. To her left is Pam McKee, a former museum employee, and next to her is Allen Dillingham, the Kansas City Parks Board member who arranged the tour.

There is a nice balance of old and new on the first floor. This original, decorative woodwork, for example, is above a fireplace in the billiards room.

On the other hand, here is a modern light fixture that blends in so well I had to ask if it was a reproduction.

Looking out from the second floor

The second and third floors will be the main exhibition areas. This will be a classroom and meeting room on the second floor.

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While it may not be on the grandiose scale of the Sprint Center, the Power & Light District or the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the new Kansas City Museum will be a significant addition to the city scene. It will elevate Kansas City as a tourist destination, and it will be another attraction, like the Nelson Gallery, that many area residents will visit again and again.

It should also help lift historic Northeast area of Kansas City. As Allen Dillingham said: “We’re hoping this project is a catalyst for the whole area; it’s just the beginning.”