Ingram's May 2024

1997 Grand opening of 18th & Vine Cultural Heritage District. KCK and Wyandotte County governments consolidate. NCAA announces relo- cation to Indianapolis.

1998 PCMA Convention draws 2,500 digni taries to KC

1999 Kay Barnes takes office as the first woman elected mayor in Kansas City, Mo. R. Crosby Kemper of UMB turns the CEO’s duties over to his son, Sandy.

Downtown Airport turns 70; KCI turns 25. Ground-breaking on Sprint Campus. ISC announces plans to build Kansas Inter- national Speedway. Investors Fiduciary Trust Corp. opens. World’s fastest man, Maurice Greene of KCK, wins 100 meters at World Championships.

Miles Prentice group loses bid to buy Kansas City Royals; David Glass becomes new owner. League of Cities convenes in KC. President’s Summit kicks off Kansas City’s Promise — The Alliance for Youth. Fire in West Bottoms.

Predictions of wide spread computer failures on Dec. 31—“Y2K”—large ly fail to materialize as century ends. Stan Durwood, former AMC Entertainment chief executive and proponent of a revi talized Downtown entertainment core, dies at the age of 78.

Elm’s Resort Hotel & Spa reopens in Excelsior Springs. Harley-Davidson opens in the Northland. Future Farmers of America holds last convention in KC.

Sweeneys acquire, resume publishing Ingram’s.

a precedent at that time as the first mar keting person hired by a Kansas City law firm. Shortly after his hiring, he was in terviewed by Corporate Report about his new duties at Shook, Hardy & Bacon and the emerging field of law firm marketing. When the article subsequently appeared, he found himself in hot water. “There were several people quite upset,” recalled Schmitz, who went on to become an in dependent marketing consultant. “Shook didn’t want other firms to know it had a person on full-time doing marketing.” Things have changed considerably since then. Shook, Hardy & Bacon and many other Kansas City firms now rec ognize the need for marketing, even if they’re not quite sure what all it entails. When Hallbrook Farms is completed, it will be home to 450 of Kansas City’s upper-income families. Right now, the development is the talk of the real es tate community and the cocktail-party circuit, not only because of the spec tacularly designed homes sprouting up there but because of the speed at which Kansas Citians have been snatching up the lots, which generally are priced from $125,000 to $775,000. People are calling it the new Mission Hills, but it’s not old-line, Mission Hills money buying Hallbrook homes. Ask bro kers where all these luxury-home-starved people are coming from, and they’ll tell you: Primarily other Johnson County neighborhoods as well as some corporate transplants. 1990 FEBRUARY The Old College Try If you haven’t checked the prices lately OCTOBER Hallbrook: Who, Why and How Much?

at your nearby institution of higher learn ing, prepare for a surprise. College costs doubled and more during the 1980s. And if the current trend continues, a college degree from a private university might will cost six figures in the 21st century. That fact is causing sticker shock for many Baby Boomers who’ve finally finished paying off their own student loans and are beginning to think about how they’ll finance their kids’ college educations. But don’t panic, financial advisers say, and don’t become obsessed by this one financial hurdle. Instead, parents should get their own savings and investment strategies worked out before worrying about college tuition bills. Emanuel Cleaver faces this mayoral challenge: to create harmony in a city of growing political factions. After 11 years on the Kansas City Council, the last three as mayor pro-tem, Emanuel Cleaver has become one of Kansas City’s most promi nent political leaders—a forceful and re spected voice in community issues. With Mayor Richard Berkeley vowing to end his City Hall tenure, Cleaver has been signaling that he wants the top job. He’s already bowed out of next year’s Fifth District Council race, but it’s not because he wants to rein in the hectic pace of his life. Instead, he has commis sioned several polls to determine wheth er Kansas Citians are ready to elect their first black mayor. 1991 JANUARY The Riverfront Gamblers Against all odds, Kansas Citians are betting on a revitalized River Market area. It has to rank as one of the most JUNE In Search of Common Ground

develop the riverfront. At the bottom, a 1947 drawing depicts a golf course on the riverbank; a 1964 plan suggests an in dustrial center; somebody wanted a park there in 1971; later in the decade, it was an aquarium. Recently the Economic Development Corporation, an umbrella organization for the city’s planning and development groups, hired a new planner who will help rework the old plans into a new one. Up to $100,000 has been spent on plans for the river, city Development Director Robert Collins says. That much money could purchase 200 streetlights for the riverfront; a mile of sidewalk; twelve acres of sod; or two earth movers to clean up the bank. Instead there are plans, talk, and op timism. 1989 JANUARY Economic Outlook for 1989 and Beyond After six years of expansion, the Kan sas City regional economy is showing signs of easing up. Layoffs, plant closings, and corporate relocations during 1988, while offset by other business expan sions, nevertheless exposed some of the softness in the region’s economy. If the consensus forecast of slower national economic growth in 1989 and 1990 materializes, the Kansas City area could experience its slowest period of economic activity since the early 1980s.

APRIL To Market, To Market

As competition tightens, Kansas City law firms are searching for means to please existing clients and find new ones. Four years ago, “marketing” was a dirty word in Kansas City legal circles. Paul Schmitz remembers because he set

50

I ngr am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com