AROUND TOWN Zona Rosa Skating Rink / Photo by Nicole Bissey Photography
CROWNED IN ZONA ROSA WRITTEN BY JULIE BURTON
K
ansas City is called Crown Town. Crowns are everywhere. Kauffman Stadium’s scoreboard is crowned for the Kansas City Royals. Hallmark’s logo is a crown. Hallmark’s headquarters is in Kansas City’s Crown Center. Zona Rosa adorns their streets with crowns every Christmas season. Kansas City was not built by kings and queens, though. The Kansas City Royals are named after The American Royal. Hallmark’s crown logo is based on old typography that resembled a crown. And Zona
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SIMPLYkc MAGAZINE
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DECEMBER 2021
Rosa’s crowns? They were inspired by the 1950s regal decorations in London, England. The crowns weren’t always hanging above the streets of Zona Rosa. You have to go back to 19621976 photographs of downtown Kansas City to see the original majestic crowns above the streets (or maybe you are lucky enough to remember seeing them in person). The 2021 crowns are not crowns from 1962. For one thing, modern energy conservation has changed. And two, no one knows where the
18-foot-wide by 14-foot-tall crowns went. There are rumors they were made into a jungle gym in the city of Holton, Kansas. The crowns you see at Zona Rosa are replicas of the crowns previous generations enjoyed in downtown Kansas City.
Crowning Downtown KC George Purucker specialized in illuminated retail displays in 1959. Purucker handled the outdoor holiday displays for numerous surrounding cities. While on a trip to England during the holidays he
