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Crown Center
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Crown Center is a commercial complex and neighborhood located near Downtown Kansas City, Missouri located between Gillham Road and Grand Boulevard to the east and west, and between Pershing Boulevard and Union Hill to the north and south. It is anchored by Halls, a shopping and entertainment district, which is owned and operated by Hallmark Cards. The neighborhood contains numerous residences, retail establishments, entertainment venues, and restaurants (including the American Restaurant, one of only three Mobil four-star restaurants in Missouri).
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Encyclopedia
Crown Center is a commercial complex and neighborhood located near Downtown Kansas City, Missouri located between Gillham Road and Grand Boulevard to the east and west, and between Pershing Boulevard and Union Hill to the north and south. It is anchored by Halls, a shopping and entertainment district, which is owned and operated by Hallmark Cards. The neighborhood contains numerous residences, retail establishments, entertainment venues, and restaurants (including the American Restaurant, one of only three Mobil four-star restaurants in Missouri). It is also home to Kansas City's two largest hotels, the global headquarters of Hallmark Cards, and the headquarters of Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Lathrop & Gage, two of Kansas City's largest law firms.
History
Before the First World War, Downtown Kansas City was heavily populated and bustling. The area today home to Crown Center was an extension of the Union Hill historic neighborhood. Gradually, however, the center of population for the metro area moved south, and by the Second World War the area today comprising Crown Center had become dilapidated. Although Hallmark had maintained its headquarters at 26th Street and Grand Avenue since 1922, the headquarters itself and nearby Union Station comprised the only non-slum in the area. Instead, what there was were old warehouses, used car lots, and vacant buildings.
In 1966, Donald J. Hall, Sr. became President and CEO of Hallmark Cards, taking over from his father, Joyce Hall. Joyce Hall had long wished to develop the area around the corporate headquarters, and with his new leadership Donald Hall quickly made it known that he wished to renew the area entirely. Hallmark quietly began acquiring all the property surrounding its headquarters, and consulted with urban planning experts about the possibility of creating an experimental "city within a city" on the property. The City of Kansas City formally approved the plans for Crown Center (named after the Hallmark corporate symbol) by the end of 1967.
The master design was prepared by Edward Larrabee Barnes. Harry Weese designed Westin Crown Center Hotel (in which Signboard Hill is included in the design as a waterfall); Norman Fletcher designed the first residences. Henry Cobb of the I.M. Pei firm designed 2600 Grand office and Dan Kiley laid out the park in the south area of the complex. Warren Plattner, designer of Windows on the World, designed the interior space at the American Restaurant when it was operated by Joseph Baum (who also operated The Four Seasons and the Rainbow Room).
Today
Today, the shopping and entertainment complex itself features three levels of shops and restaurants, a set of grand open air fountains, movie theatres, an ice skating rink, a number of improbable and unprofitable retail stores, chain restaurant knock-offs referred to by locals as "the yards," and overstreet walkways leading throughout the complex and to Kansas City's Union Station. One of the most notable stores is the Halls department store designed by Paul László. The complex also includes a 45-story Hyatt Regency Crown Center hotel (which was Missouri's tallest building when built), a Westin hotel, and two upscale residential apartment skyscrapers. Kansas City's three largest law firms maintain their headquarters in other skyscrapers in the neighborhood. The neighborhood's grounds are replete with parks, fountains, green spaces, an information booth, and unique sculptures.
Hallmark Cards' global headquarters campus is located on an section on the eastern side of Crown Center.
Gallery
Image:Crown Center 4 Kansas City MO.jpg|Entrance to shopping and entertainment complex.
Image:Crown Center 1 Kansas City MO.jpg|Plaza and fountains at the heart of Crown Center.
Image:Crown Center Square Fountain Kansas City MO.jpg|Crown Center Square fountains.
Image:Crowncenterfountain.JPG|Crown Center fountains during the holiday season.
Image:Crown Center 2 Kansas City MO.jpg|Mall entrance and
Westin Hotel.
Image:Hyatt Regency Crown Center Kansas City MO.jpg|Hyatt Regency Crown Center and skyway.
Image:2510 Grand Kansas City MO.jpg|San Francisco Tower residential highrise.
Image:2555 Grand Kansas City MO.jpg|2555 Grand
office building.
Image:Crown Center 5 Kansas City MO.jpg|Hallmark Cards corporate offices.
Image:Crown Center 6 Kansas City MO.jpg|Hallmark corporate headquarters entrance.
See also
- List of neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri
External links
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