July 2, 2012
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
As part of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s “Big 5” initiative, the University of
Missouri-Kansas City began investigating the concept of a Downtown Campus for the Arts as a
means to address several highly significant needs and opportunities for both campus and
community. These include the university’s need for increased space and improved facilities for
its renowned visual and performing arts programs; the need for growth space on the landlocked
Volker campus; the city’s need to boost employment, activity and residency in the urban core;
and the wealth of opportunities for artistic and educational synergy, economic development and
national attention being generated by the city’s burgeoning arts and cultural renaissance.
A downtown UMKC arts campus, in walkable proximity to premiere arts institutions and
performance venues, would emulate successful urban arts education programs such as those at
Juilliard in New York, the New England Conservatory in Boston, the Colburn School of Music
in Los Angeles, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Houston, Georgia State
University and Columbus State University.
This executive summary includes highlights of three studies reviewing the feasibility, impacts
and benefits of a UMKC Downtown Campus for the Arts.
The first is a study of potential sites and costs, prepared by Helix Architecture + Design, Integra
Realty Resources and HGA Architects and Engineers. That study recommends three potential
sites and a phased move of the visual and performing arts schools over a 20+-year period.
The second, prepared by UMKC research staff, reviews the potential impact of the move of those
programs downtown on the university and its component parts. It concludes that, while the
students and faculty would get the greatest benefit, the move would also free up valuable space
on the Volker campus for expansion of other programs, such as the School of Computing and
Engineering and School of Biological Sciences; addresses the need to improve the quality of
classroom, practice and performance space for arts programs in order to meet accreditation
standards; and that White Recital Hall and the Spencer Theatre on the Volker campus would
continue to host a rich array of UMKC student performances for the benefit of non-arts students
and the community.
The third is an economic impact study by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC). MARC
estimates that the economic activity associated with the construction of the arts campus and reuse
of the Volker campus would average, at minimum, approximately 409 jobs, $30.8 million in real
GDP, and $22.9 million in real disposable personal income over 25 years.
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 1 Study No. 1: Helix/HGA Study
Methodology
The Helix study had three primary objectives:
•
Identify the “right spaces” that serve the educational mission of the schools
•
Identify the sites that “represent both a physical fit and cultural catalyst”
•
Create a framework for implementation of the concept
Academic units and other organizations included in the study: Conservatory of Music and
Dance; College of Arts & Sciences Departments of Theatre, Art & Art History, Communication
Studies, and Architecture, Urban Planning and Design; The Kansas City Repertory Theatre; and
KCUR Public Radio.
Site Selection
A downtown location and proximity to existing performance venues that UMKC’s user groups
might incorporate into their program calendars were primary factors in initial site selection.
Performance venues considered by the authors included the Folly Theater, the Copaken Stage at
the H&R Block headquarters, the Midland Theater, the former Lyric Opera building, and the
event spaces within the Municipal Auditorium. Also, the potential use of the new Kauffman
Center for the Performing Arts was a key factor in this site analysis.
Other site selection objectives included:
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Integrate the campus with the neighborhood.
•
Forge a strong connection between arts programs and street life/pedestrian experience via
building placement, organization and transparency
•
Extend and connect green space.
•
Link pedestrian paths with public and campus transit.
•
Provide proximity and pedestrian connections to downtown cultural amenities.
•
Provide gathering spaces and venues such as a library and café that bring campus and
neighborhood communities together.
The authors initially reviewed 12 sites for their general viability, and then narrowed the field to
four for a more thorough analysis: Barney Allis Plaza; and Kauffman PAC East, South and West.
Three sites were selected (including a combined Kauffman South and West) that best meet the
feasibility criteria:
•
Barney Allis Plaza
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 2 •
Crossroads/Kauffman East
•
Crossroads/Kauffman Southwest (South and West sites combined)
1. BARNEY ALLIS PLAZA
The concept assumes a mix of full and core program for the Conservatory, UMKC Theatre, KC
Rep (including a 500-seat theatre), Art and Art History, Communication Studies, KCUR and
Architecture, Urban Planning and Design in a complex that would range from 3 to 5 stories. The
diagram organizes the program components around a central arts commons with strong physical
connections to the surrounding streets.
The diagram brings all the disciplines together around a shared gathering space and is one major
advantage of building the campus on this three-acre block. However, if UMKC’s Downtown
Arts Campus is to be implemented over a period of time, building on one block will make staged
or phased construction more complex and more costly.
CROSSROADS/KAUFFMAN SITES
Both sites within the Crossroads Arts District and adjacent to or near the Kauffman Performing
Arts Center offer many opportunities to achieve the goals and desired outcomes.
•
The influence of the Kauffman PAC has many advantages including fostering artistic
relationships with professional programs and giving UMKC’s artistic programs high
visibility and identity within Kansas City’s artistic community.
•
UMKC’s arts would benefit from the cultural synergy of being in the Crossroads Arts
District.
•
The Crossroads would benefit culturally and economically from the influx of students
and faculty.
•
A combination of sites that is ideal for new construction as well as existing underutilized
buildings ideal for adaptive re-use support great flexibility for implementation.
Combining sites across 2 or more blocks with a combination of new and renovated
construction supports an approach that is more sustainable and more integrated with the
neighborhood.
2. CROSSROADS/KAUFFMAN EAST
Site utilizes 2 blocks directly east of Kauffman – one between Wyandotte and Baltimore
(Kauffman East) and another between Baltimore and Main, north of 17th Street (Kauffman
East/Main Street).The Kauffman East site gives UMKC a strong connection to the Kauffman
PAC while the Main Street site puts UMKC’s campus along a primary transit route from the
Volker Campus to downtown and in proximity to the Power and Light District.
The Conservatory program on the north end of the Kauffman East block is organized around an
interior gathering space that connects Wyandotte to Baltimore Avenue. This interior street is a
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 3 community gathering space for students, faculty and the neighborhood and would foster
interdisciplinary interaction through its design and programming.
3. CROSSROADS/KAUFFMAN SOUTHWEST
Site includes 2 blocks that are ideal for new construction – Kauffman West along Broadway and
Kauffman South along 17th Street. A third block along Broadway contains four existing
buildings ideal for adaptive re-use.
The combination of all 3 blocks anchoring the southwest corner of Kauffman creates in effect a
“Corner Campus” with high visibility from Kauffman, along Broadway and from I-35.
The Conservatory program on the Kauffman South block is organized around an interior
gathering space that is highly visible from the corner of Broadway and 17th Street. This interior
street is a community gathering space for students, faculty and the neighborhood and would
foster interdisciplinary interaction.
Both of the Crossroads/Kauffman site concepts assume a mix of full and core programs for the
Conservatory, UMKC Theatre, KC Rep (including a 500-seat theatre), Visual Arts, Film and
Media and KCUR in a complex that would range from 2 to 3 stories in height. Varying building
heights, setbacks and green spaces create a pedestrian-scaled environment with outdoor
gathering spaces linked to the interior gathering spaces. In both, the campus would have a very
prominent identity within the Crossroads Arts District, and the artistic activity within the schools
would be highly visible in the district and from the lobby of the Kauffman PAC.
Impacts
Moving to a downtown site, UMKC’s heralded arts programs would gain great opportunities for
much-needed improvements to their facilities.
A downtown arts campus could offer new and creative ways to integrate culture into the
curriculum of every student on all three UMKC campuses, enhancing their education and
creating the next generation of arts lovers in our region. Moving arts programs downtown would
also free up significant space on the UMKC Volker campus, which could be re-imagined to
address the university’s critical need for physical expansion.
Downtown Kansas City would gain added vibrancy with a constant population of 18- to 35-yearolds learning, living and performing there. The Downtown Arts Campus would contribute to
Kansas City’s ongoing urban renaissance by adding a critical mass of 700+ students, faculty and
staff living and/or working downtown. The plan also helps to utilize an abundance of
commercial real estate in and around the downtown loop.
As noted in the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation 2005 publication Time to Get It
Right: A Strategy for Higher Education in Kansas City: “Excellence in the arts sends a powerful
message of academic and civic vitality. The arts will be of increasing importance in attracting
and keeping in Kansas City the young talented professionals the city needs to flourish.”
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 4 Costs, Phasing and Timetable for Implementation
The land and financial resources to implement the full program is not likely to be available in the
near term or even over a long period of time. Therefore, the implementation framework would
allow for the creation of Downtown Arts Campus on an incremental basis over a potential
twenty-year period.
The study recommends conducting the move in three phases.
•
Phase One would move the Conservatory of Music and Dance to the Downtown site.
•
Phase Two involves the move of the UMKC Theatre and the Kansas City Repertory
Theatre.
•
Phase Three would involve the departments of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design;
Art and Art History; Communication Studies; and KCUR.
The study notes that because there is less programmatic linkage among the Phase Three
programs, they could potentially move independently of each other, and of Phases One and Two.
UMKC anticipates that the conversations around the funding plan will be complete by the end of
summer 2012. Time frame for project implementation would involve no less than one year for
planning and a two-year construction time frame for a first phase implementation.
The study also offers three scenarios for the scope of the project, with a cost estimate for each
scenario.
•
Scenario 1 defines “core” elements of each of the arts programs, and estimates the cost of
moving those elements downtown.
•
Scenario 2, the lowest-cost scenario of the three, scales back the “core” programming of
UMKC Theatre and the KC Rep that would move downtown, keeping more activity on
the Volker campus.
•
Scenario 3 defines a “full program” for each unit, at a significantly higher total cost.
Scenario 1 (Core program) The Conservatory program moves downtown in its entirety, but
without a performance space. Conservatory performs concerts at Helzberg Hall when possible,
continues to use White Recital Hall on campus, and other venues around the city. KC Rep artistic
program spaces move Downtown; Rep continues to use the Spencer Theatre and Copaken Stage.
UMKC Theatre expands into space vacated by the Conservatory and KC Rep in the existing
Olson PAC on the Volker campus.
Conservatory: $88.2 million
UMKC Theatre: $16.8 million
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 5 KC Rep: $44.8 million
KCUR: $7.56 million
Other College of Arts and Sciences Programs: $8.12 million
Total: $165.48 million
Scenario 2: (alternative core program) Changes the Rep and UMKC Theatre aspects of Scenario
1, keeping more activity and space on the Volker campus. Reduces UMKC Theatre costs from
$16.8 million to $7.7 million; and KC Rep costs from $44.8 million to $40.6 million.
Total: $152.18 million
Scenario 3: (Full Program): Conservatory moves downtown in its entirety, with additional
growth capacity for library, rehearsal, and classroom functions; and a new 100-seat recital hall.
Theatre vacates much of the space currently used on the Volker campus, but continues to use
Spencer Theatre for performance and Olson PAC Black Box and Scene Shop. KC Rep adds new
500-seat theatre. The Studio Arts programs of the Department of Art and Art History move
downtown in their entirety. An art gallery is provided on the Downtown Arts Campus.
Conservatory: $98.86 million
UMKC Theatre: $50.65 million
KC Rep: $79 million
KCUR: $7.56 million
Other College of Arts and Sciences Programs: $36.4 million
Total: $272.47 million
Study No. 2: Campus Impact Study
Key questions addressed by this study included:
•
•
•
•
•
How would creating a Downtown Arts Campus affect students, faculty and staff on
existing campuses, especially in regards to density of student population and the vibrancy
of the overall campus experience?
How would an arts campus change the “arts experience” on the Volker campus for nonarts students, faculty and staff and for the community who currently come here for
musical and theatrical performances?
What would be the effect on current campus facilities?
What transportation and housing issues would need to be addressed with a downtown arts
campus presence?
Why move downtown versus expanding/improving on the Volker campus?
Impact on Arts Education/Students
The concept of a Downtown Arts Campus clearly supports UMKC’s mission and strategic goals
to “advance urban engagement” and “excel in the visual and performing arts”; addresses the
2005 “Time To Get It Right” report goal to “enhance UMKC’s stature as one of the top 20
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 6 universities in the arts;” and provides an opportunity to create innovative state-of-the-art educational
and living facilities downtown for arts students.
The Downtown Arts Campus plan addresses the needs to improve the quality of classroom,
practice and performance space, per accreditation standards. Accreditation studies have noted
that the current Conservatory facilities – divided among four buildings -- are inadequate to
program needs.
Impact on Volker Campus and its Students
Moving arts programs to a new downtown campus frees up significant space on the UMKC
Volker campus, which can be re-imagined to address the university’s critical need for physical
expansion. As an example, Grant Hall, currently the location of many of the Conservatory’s
classrooms and teaching studios, could easily be repurposed to serve as general classroom space.
UMKC has set a goal of growing its enrollment by 5,000 students to 20,000 by 2020. The
anticipated growth in undergraduate enrollment is targeted to come from six academic units:
School of Education, School of Management, School of Computing and Engineering, School of
Biological Sciences, School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. Increases in
applications and admissions for 2012 provide a strong indication that enrollment growth
projections will be met.
In terms of the vibrancy and richness of student interaction with each other and the arts, it is
important to point out that the popular image of “violin majors mingling with engineers, opera
majors sharing classes with pre-med students” is not accurate. Conservatory students specialize
fairly early in their academic careers and thus spend the majority of their class time with other
Conservatory majors.
Arts and non-arts student have other chances to interact through the more than 350 annual
performances offered by UMKC’s performing arts students, if non-arts students choose to take
advantage of the opportunity. Although hard numbers are difficult to come by, an estimate by the
Central Ticket Office suggests that students purchase 16.5% of all tickets to fine arts events.
In coming years, regardless of a move downtown, students in arts and non-arts majors should be
seeing more of each other in the classroom as UMKC moves to a general education, or core,
curriculum that will be required of all undergraduates. That curriculum was approved by faculty
and staff in 2012. Those courses, typically taken by students in their freshman year, will be
taught on the Volker campus, similar to the experience of current health science students.
Further, UMKC is considering the creation of an “arts passport,” a series of performances and
gallery viewings, taking place on both the Volker and downtown campuses, designed specifically
for UMKC undergraduates in these courses. The goal is that UMKC develop a reputation as a
leader in educating the audiences of tomorrow.
Existing performance spaces on the Volker Campus would remain in use. White Recital Hall and
the Spencer Theatre would continue to host a rich array of UMKC student performances.
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 7 Transportation and Housing
A new Downtown campus would change how our students move from one campus to another,
but the backbone of an expanded transportation system is already in place. Students currently
have two bus options for transportation to and from the Hospital Hill campus or other metro area
locations. Those include the UMKC Shuttle and the Kansas City Area Transit Association bus
system. Average daily student ridership of the KCATA lines is about 800-1,000 trips. More than
half of those trips are on the Main Street MAX and Troost MAX lines which serve both our
current Hospital Hill campus and a potential Downtown Arts Campus. Average daily ridership
on the UMKC Shuttle buses is in the 200-300 trips range.
Current plans do not call for building university-owned and operated housing near a downtown
arts campus location. But it is anticipated that some students might want to live downtown near
such a campus. Students may continue to live on the Volker campus as well as in off-campus
housing in the area, but it is anticipated that some may want to move to housing in the downtown
loop area if a Downtown Arts Campus is built.
Study No. 3: MARC Study on Economic Impacts
The Mid-America Regional Council was asked to estimate the economic impact of creating a
downtown arts campus for UMKC. Factors in the analysis include expenditure for construction
and equipment, hiring of new staff and attraction of new visitors (or in this, case, students) to the
region. The added staff and students also spend money in the region, creating a multiplier effect
as dollars circulate throughout the regional economy.
Marc began its analysis with economic impact estimates of the current arts programs on the
Volker campus. MARC estimates these programs generate an average of 310 jobs, $15.8 million
in real Gross Domestic Output (GDO) and $12.2 million in real disposable income (where “real”
means inflation-adjusted 2012 dollars) over 25 years.
Next, MARC estimated the impact of constructing a downtown arts campus, expanding the
existing arts programs after the move, and expansion of programs remaining at the Volker
campus taking advantage of the vacated space.
MARC estimates that the economic activity associated with the construction of the arts campus
and reuse of the Volker campus would average approximately 409 jobs, $30.8 million in real
GDO, and $22.9 million in real disposable personal income over 25 years. Of these impacts, a
little over half results from the construction itself, with the rest generated by the expansion of
arts and other educational programs at UMKC.
However, the creation of an arts campus is not like a typical facilities investment in one very
important regard: Such a project has the potential to amplify and build upon the community’s
already large investment in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
What might result from a successful amplification is largely unknown at this point. However, it
may be useful to consider a “best case” scenario. To this end, MARC examined Austin’s South
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 8 by Southwest (SXSW) festival and simulated the development of a similar event in metropolitan
Kansas City over a 25-year period.
MARC modeled the potential impact of the “best case scenario”: the synergy of the new arts
campus with the Crossroads area and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts allows
metropolitan Kansas City to grow a nationally significant arts festival bringing visitors to the
region over a period of a week to 10 days. The development of such an event over a 25-year
period would produce an average annual impact of 463 jobs, $33.5 million in real GDO and
$29.9 million in real disposable personal income over 25 years.
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For more information: Contact John Martellaro, 816-235-1592
UMKC |Executive Summary of Downtown Arts Campus studies 9