More El Torreon Developments, i.e. The Official Word
It seems that the press release posted here a couple of weeks ago about the proposed restoration and greenification of the El Torreon Ballroom was never intended to reach the media. That's good, because it was pretty bananas.
By contrast, the release sent out today by a PR company called Pepperdine PR is crisp and professional. They've even offered to send along an architectural rendering. This is looking serious -- and seriously awesome if it works out.
EL TORREON CULTURAL ARTS CENTER LLC 3101 Gillham Plaza, Kansas City, MO 64111 Release Date: Aug. 20, 2008 Contact: Susan Pepperdine, (913) 262-7414 or susan@pepperdinepr.com Also contact Pepperdine for electronic copies of the news release, bios and timeline.
Restoration of Historic Midtown Building AnnouncedIn 1970s El Torreon Was Home of Legendary Cowtown Ballroom
(KANSAS CITY, MO.) ... El Torreon, the historic building at 31st and Gillham Plaza in midtown Kansas City, which in the 1970s rocked as the legendary Cowtown Ballroom, is on the verge of rocking again through a multimillion-dollar restoration effort announced today. Restoration will return the building to its former glory, turning the El Torreon once again into a venue for concerts, dances, roller-skating, weddings, reunions and other community and private events.
At a 10:30 a.m. press conference, Jeanne Bojarski of Kansas City announced that she has formed El Torreon Cultural Arts Center LLC, and has made a down payment toward purchasing the building from Nabil Haddad, president of Haddad Restaurant Group Inc. Haddad has applied for a permit to provide food, beverages and liquor for events at the El Torreon. He owns and operates the Plaza III and Figlio’s, and is known for preserving the traditions of another Kansas City institution, Winstead’s, since purchasing the restaurant chain in the early 1980s.
Bojarski is a marketing communications writer with experience in concert production, who also ran in 1992 in Missouri for the U.S. Senate on the Libertarian ticket. Her daughter, Alexandra Bojarski-Stauffer, will also have part ownership in the building along with other private investors.In late July Bojarski signed with Davison Architecture + Urban Design LLC of Kansas City for architecture and with TranSystems for engineering services. She plans to sign the final ownership documents in January 2009.
More after the jump.
Registry through the National Register of Historic Places will be applied for as well as Missouri tax credits for historic buildings, noted Dominique Davison, AIA, principal of Davison Architecture. The restoration, which began with a new roof Haddad installed in 2007, will also include installation of solar panels and other “green” elements designed to minimize energy costs and achieve LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.El Torreon first opened in 1927 and soon became a popular gathering place to dance and hear the music of such performers as Cab Calloway and Bennie Moten. In the early 1970s the upper floor became the Cowtown Ballroom, featuring headliners such as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Van Morrison, Frank Zappa and Alice Cooper.
The building will be in use as restoration proceeds. It has already been the site of several events, including an Aug. 10 communitywide talent show and El Torreon benefit concert.
I was at this benefit concert two Sundays ago, and I gotta say, it wasn't much while I was there. In the concrete shell-like room that until recently housed Midwestern Music Co. (now relocated to the Crossroads), adjacent to the main room, a few bands played for very few people. I wouldn't have even known about it if not for the leaked press release; I didn't see it promoted at all in the preceding weeks. While the second band on the bill was playing, around 4:30, I counted about 17 people in attendance, most of whom were either in bands set to play or were helping to run the event. There was a contingent of African-American teenage boys who were looking to sign people up for the talent show the following Sunday. I left around 6 p.m. and drove back by an hour later -- which by that time was four hours into the event -- and the crowd didn't seem to have grown any in my absence. That's not snark, mind you -- I'm just saying what I saw.
Maybe it should've been billed as a "thrown-together, last-minute party to raise a bit of cash, if possible" rather than as a "benefit concert." Because it was not the kind of benefit concert you'd expect to see kicking off a multimilliondollar project like this one. Anyway, we'll set that aside and see what happens next.
Because if this really does come together as proposed, then of course it would be awesome. Who'd deny that?
P.S. The publicist adds that a press conference was held this morning and that TV 4, 5 and 9 were there, and there's already been a report on 4.
Sure enough, here it is! Ah, there's Ms. Bojarski. And wow, the whole second floor really is cleaned out!
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