What Are We Waiting For?
Moments Leading Up To A Panel Discussion at Crown Center Kate Hackman, Josh Shelton, Mike Sinclair
The time is 10:45 a.m. CST in the Lobby of the Westin Crown Center Hotel, next to the famous Harry Weese waterfall built into the original limestone shelf of the site — a shelf upon which the architect floated the hotel using concrete piers. Host to a jungle of fantastic vegetation, the waterfall also features a meandering stairstepped pathway, now with locked gates at either end, that at one time allowed visitors to climb up through it. Two men, one in his late 30s, dressed in a black linen suit, the other in his mid-60s, frumpily clad in wrinkled khakis and Birkenstocks, have recently entered the lobby, converged near the waterfall, and now stand gazing longingly toward it. Johannes Shitonas: My God. Check out that waterfall. Martin Sincere: (sincerely) I have spent a lot of time over the years doing just that. JS: She’s a real beauty. (A young woman, who has been swimming in the collecting pool, now rests on its ledge and playfully splashes in the two men’s direction.) Kitty Holiday: Isn’t it exquisite? I’ve always thought there should be exotic birds to go along with these tropical plants, though it could be a fantastic aviary, with parrots and cockatoos! JS: I didn’t even know this waterfall existed. I’ve driven by Crown Center thousands of times, but never stepped a foot inside. It seems that I am always sooooo busy. KH: Aren’t we all? I have a facial and massage at noon. (Johannes looks anxiously at his watch. Martin strokes his beard. Kitty resumes her swimming, stopping again a few minutes later to look back up at them.) KH: I usually have this place all to myself — you two must be here for the panel discussion. JS: I thought so. But where is everyone? MS: (unfazed) You know, that collecting pool was riginally host to many different kinds of fish, but a chemical imbalance in the water eviscerated them entirely in the early 80s. KH: (splashing water on the plants) They should have fish in the pool — Japanese goldfish! That would be fabulous. And butterflies! JS: Jesus, I thought I was here to discuss Urbanism. KH: Are you (swimming closer and speaking in hushed tones) an...Urbanist? (giggles) JS: (removing sunglasses, deepening voice) It depends on what you mean by Urbanist. I believe in cities. I believe in people who live in cities. I currently practice Re-urbanism with a touch of Post Urbanism. That is not to say that I disagree with the fundamentals of Everyday Urbanism, though I believe that the everyday flirts with Exurbanism for which I have no tolerance. New Urbanism, on the other hand, just baffles me. Why are you here? KH: I live here! (Out of nowhere, a young man arrives with a huge, plush white towel and robe. He hands them to Kitty who rises from the pool and begins drying off in the foliage. A moment later, wearing the robe and with her hair wrapped in a towel, she sits down at one of several round tables near the waterfall where the two men join her.) MS: (reengaging) I have seen you around here quite often. KH: (a little nervously) I have seen you around here a lot too. You haven’t been following me, have you? MS: (excitedly, but with great seriousness) No, I am a follower of Crown Center. Forty years ago, I worked as an assistant to Victor Gruen, the master planner of Crown Center. I worked closely with the Hall Family right up to the opening day. I know all there is to know about this place. Urban Planning & Architecture 2006, Review Page 90
KH: (relieved, now applying moisturizer to her legs) Do you still work for the Halls? MS: (slowly, in monotone) The compromises required to adapt Crown Center to conform with market realities forced me to resign in 1975. Instead, I remain a disciple of the original vision. My loyalty to the Hall Family is best fulfilled by remaining here to speak the truth and remember. (Johannes and Kitty exchange wide-eyed glances.) JS: Sooooo … (to Kitty, now applying lipstick) You are the panelist representing the residential and corporate employee perspective? KH: I suppose … but actually, outside of appearing in the occasional television spot for Hallmark (poses as if displaying a greeting card), I rarely work. When I moved here from Santa Fe several years ago, my father bought me a condo in the San Francisco tower. What can I say? I fell in love with this place. JS: With Kansas City or the Midwest in general? KH: No, Crown Center. (proceeding with a total lack of self-consciousness) I rarely leave it. And I really don’t need to work — I’m friendly with the bartenders at most of the restaurants and they take care of me. Plus, there are always businessmen around who insist on buying dinner. I have free gym membership at the Westin. So, other than what I spend on clothes at Halls and my weekly Aveda spa treatments, I really don’t need much. I do purchase season tickets for the shows at the American Heartland Theater. Oh, and I don’t have a car. I never learned to drive, so it’s perfect. And because everything’s connected, I don’t even have to wear shoes! (pulling a bottle of pink polish from the pocket of her robe and beginning to paint her toenails.) Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I even go up to Skies for a martini in my pajamas. JS: (indulgently) Hmmm … So interesting ... (clears throat) While you were sipping cocktails, I completed a bit of writing entitled Urbanism: From the Inside Out. It deals with ideas of reversing interior and exterior circulation patterns and the resultant unconscious merging of public and private space. Freud, of course, would have not seen it as a “merging” as much as a prolonged Medusa-state. I see this as the primary (airquoting) Crown Center dilemma (hands now smoothing hair). Of course, I’ll go into much greater detail about this when the panel discussion begins. MS: (staring in Johannes’ general direction, but as if in oracular trance) Before the Link was built, the Crown Center Complex had little to do with privatized interior circulation. Crown Center was originally conceived as an International public marketplace engaging its beautifully designed grounds as well as its interior shops. The grounds are still used as a meeting place for outdoor concerts. Kids and families from diverse backgrounds still play in the fountains just outside of Halls Department Store. (Kitty produces a blow-dryer and begins combing out her hair. Johannes continues listening to Martin, now with amused interest.) MS: When Crown Center first opened, it was the Rockefeller Center of the Midwest. There was West Village, full of artisan boutiques. And ahhhhhh (raising voice and becoming physically aroused) … the food! A plethora of exotic fruits and vegetables! And my dear friend George Detsios selling cheeses from around the world! There was even an oyster bar! (becoming aware that he has been wildly gesticulating and now attempting to calm himself) Crown Center was an innovative experiment in post WW2 urban design. A consulting team, including Charles Eames and Walt Disney, helped the Hall Family lay the groundwork for world-class architecture and dessssssign ... (Martin closes eyes and begins to sway to the invisible rhythm of the stars.) KH: (lighting a Capri) Wasn’t Walt Disney from Kansas City? But really, Crown Center seems nothing like Disneyland. I’ve always thought Disneyland was kind of creepy (blowing smoke rings in Martin’s direction) ... unlike Crown Center, which is elegant. Have you seen the ceiling at the American restaurant? It‘s stunning. (French inhaling) Timeless. JS: (lighting a Nat Sherman) Maybe it’s not like Disneyland, but it depends pretty heavily on Hallmark. The problem with Disney is that they often participate in the creation of company towns … They did it with Crown Center and, more recently, with Celebration in Florida. It’s anchored by a corporate giant, and it’s a model that doesn’t Urban Planning & Architecture 2006, Review Page 91
even pretend to be self-sufficient. Look around, this place is empty. MS: (still swaying, but eyes beginning to open) Neverthelessssss … Hallmark chose to locate in Downtown Kansas City and has been a quality-based downtown company, employing thousands of creative people. The Hall Family, throughout the construction of Crown Center, employed renowned architects and designers … Edward Larrabee Barnes … Henry Cobb … Warren Plattner … Harry Weese … Norman Fletcher … Dan Kiley … and the outdoor sculptures of Alexander Calder … Kenneth Snelson … David Smith … JS: (flicking an ash) But, I would argue that Crown Center became a failure when it shifted its marketing strategy to entertainment back in the 80’s. Almost a perfect shift in Disney’s eyes, don’t you think? (Johannes appears triumphant. Martin quietly begins to weep. Kitty lights another cigarette, sits up straight, and begins to speak in her most earnest voice.) KH: For me, Crown Center is not about entertainment. I love it here and I would never go to an amusement park. I prefer to stroll around the gardens just outside my condominium, which are quiet and private. I can read the latest issue of Travel and Leisure and listen to the birds chirp and watch the dragonflies flirt with fanciful abandon. (Johannes crosses legs) And that such beautiful gardens can be planted on the roof of a parking garage! The entire roof! Where else are they doing such things? Constructing planted rooftops right here in the middle of the city? It all seems very progressive and a lot more civilized than Disneyland. JS: (relaxing) Come to think of it, a better comparison to Disneyland may be Zona Rosa. KH: What’s Zona Rosa? JS: (removing jacket, rolling up sleeves) It is a New Urbanist retail-entertainment development north of the river designed to simulate Main Street U.S.A. — an idealized embodiment of American values — a model built on marketing an ideal rooted in nostalgia. MS: (drying his tears, becoming indignant) There are clearly different forms of Idealism. Crown Center was about creating a new ideal; Inventing the future. KH: (innocently) Do people actually live there, in this Zona Rosa? JS: For residential purposes, there are 24 loft-style apartments available. KH: Per building? JS: (Self-satisfied, as if delivering a punchline) No, no… for the entire town. Actually, I think Kansas City’s timing is a shame; almost ironic, in fact. Dozens of turnof-century buildings are now being converted for residential use. Infrastructure is being created to support this residential influx. Crown Center might actually have a chance to thrive … MS: (jumping up, heart palpitating, spit flying) The original vision could be fulfilled! Kansas City could come to realize the truth! JS: (continuing, undeterred by Martin’s emotional outburst) Unfortunately, at this same moment, downtown residents are looking to shop at New Urbanist centers. Take the proposed Power and Light District as a point of discussion… (Martin violently recoils, hunches over and places his hands over his ears.) KH: (shying away from Martin and again looking wide-eyed at Johannes) My goodness. I could use a drink. MS: (hearing her, despite his covered ears, and excitedly returning to his chair) Back in the 70s, I enjoyed a few drinks myself listening to Jazz at the Signboard Bar! It was named after Signboard Hill, which was plastered with billboards and stood as a symbol of blight in Kansas City. Crown Center was the salvation that transformed the area. There were… KH: (interrupting) How about we take The Link over to Pierpont’s for a snack and a glass of wine? I’ll have George at the front desk tell the other panelists to meet us there. MS: (vehemently) I will not set foot in The Link! Skywalks were not part of the original vision. JS: That may be true, but Crown Center has relied heavily upon its skywalk system to become marketable as an entertainment-based development. (lighting another Nat Urban Planning & Architecture 2006, Review Page 92
Sherman) I am hoping to shed light on the issue during the panel discussion by citing excerpts from my most recent essay: Skywalks: Doppler Outcroppings or Ubiquitous Garden Snakes? It essentially calls into question the notion of linkages as they relate to urban weather system analysis versus organic patterns of pedestrian recreation. I asked my students to create multi-layered mappings of storm systems and entertainmentrelated trafficking within a six block area of Minneapolis and a three-block area of Kansas City. The results, of course, were fascinating. I think if a similar map of Crown Center were developed, one might discover that… KH: (dealing a hand of solitaire from a deck of cards she has been shuffling throughout Johannes’ speech) Actually, an informative map about Crown Center already exists. It is an exercise map for The Link. You can walk three miles via two continuous loops. And shop at the same time. As far as weather, you can do this rain or shine, winter or summer. Many of the women in my book club also belong to the Walking Link, a group of us empowered types who power-walk the whole of Crown Center Tuesday and Thursday mornings and twice on Sunday. (looking up and sensing Johannes’ frustration) But you were saying something about Minneapolis? I once dated a conventioneer from Minneapolis. JS: In Minneapolis, the skywalks follow the urban grid in a logical fashion. They mirror sidewalk circulation below as a pedestrian alternative to the harsh Minnesota winters. The Link at Crown Center has nothing to do with the urban fabric below and, since there is little pedestrian traffic, I cannot really say that it has much to do with the weather either. Furthermore, if you follow The Link using the street as a navigation tool, you end up slamming right into a garage wall or climbing obscure outdoor staircases only to find locked doors. KH: (factually) Yes, the doors to The Link are locked for security purposes. My father would never have bought me my Condo otherwise. JS: I parked on the street this morning and it took me about 20 minutes just to figure out how to get into the hotel. Pedestrian navigation is a problem. Crown Center has also been criticized over the years for vehicular parking navigation. MS: (jumping back into the conversation) The original architects elected to incorporate underground parking in order to preserve the clean lines of the modern buildings. JS: Many visitors had a hard time finding the parking lots and even a harder time finding their cars again after their shopping experience. To some extent, street navigation has always been a problem for Crown Center. KH: (gathering her cards) I do not mean to change the subject, but who is supposed to be moderating this? Perhaps he’s having trouble finding the parking garage. I am running out of time … with my spa appointment and all. JS: I’ll page Jack Rees. (casually fingering his cell phone) He should know. I do wonder if you might be free later on for an afternoon Pinot? KH: (Coyly) Excuse me? JS: I thought you might be interested in further discussion on the fabric of urbanism … I have a book in galleys … one essay in particular I would discuss: Urbanism, Sex, and Sexuality. I thought maybe we could head over to the Hyatt and… (Johannes’ cell phone begins vibrating and he pauses to answer it. Martin sadly approaches the lower gate to the waterfall’s tropical gardens and begins rattling the locked door like a baby in a crib. Kitty moves to a sofa, waves to a waiter in the Brasserie café, and is quickly brought a cappuccino. Hanging up his phone, Johannes then sits down beside her.) JS: That was Jack. He thought he had canceled the discussion. Review has chosen to focus on Kansas City Live instead. It is getting national media attention. KH: But I was looking forward to being a panelist. JS: So was I. It seems as though no one is very interested in discussing Crown Center anymore. (Kitty gathers her things. Johannes grabs his jacket and replaces his sunglasses. Both glance quickly over at Martin, who is still rattling the locked gate, then exit in opposite directions.) Urban Planning & Architecture 2006, Review Page 93