Kansas City Illustrated; 111

A. The. You the program is Kansas City Illustrated. These are among tonight's stories. The governor's proposal is 250 million and he has named projects. The House Budget Committee started looking at the projects that he recommended and looking at the overall scheme of things and found that he had skipped over certain projects. He asked us to consider authorization. This is the only way that I could pass a bill I can't pass a bill of the 250 million dollars because it's obvious that he's jumped over priority projects. The fact that I made a picture isn't a worsening

thing. But the fact that you made a plea. Yes. If you go out and do it. Yes. Are the fact that you go out and sing so you're grabbing doing because you didn't buy. If I were a hotel investor I'd leave mighty cautious and I think they I might be cautious. But as I also is saying you know there's always room for one more in the game and I'll have a new one and let the fellow with the old one worry about him. But you know that's the free enterprise capitalistic system I think the system works. Yes there will be some. There will be some winners and there's going to be some serious losers. Good evening welcome to Kansas City Illustrated I'm John Masterman on tonight's program we'll go to grandmother's house in Kansas an appropriate place to go in the Thanksgiving season. We'll go to the home of an artist who signs her work.

Grandma. Later we'll have a report on hotels in Kansas City specifically on whether there are getting to be too many of them. We'll begin tonight Kansas City illustrated with a report from Jefferson City and Columbia Missouri General Assembly has been in special session for a month. Legislators are home for the holiday although some had hoped to have the session completed by now. They'll be going back to the Capitol next week. And then they'll be faced with trying to reach agreement on a tax increase the governor and many legislators say is needed. The other major issue concerns bonds for state capital improvements and economic development prospects for the bond issue have improved in recent days as Laurel Defoe reports the governor's proposal is 250 million and he has named projects. The House Budget Committee started looking into projects that he recommended in looking at the overall scheme of things and priorities that have been established by various departments and found that he had skipped over certain projects.

What speaker Griffin has demonstrated is that once we make a proposal then as speaker has you know he has the opportunity working in the house to change that however he wants to change it in order to secure passage. I've made my proposal but I'm willing to work with the legislature on whatever they pass out of both houses. It was governor who called for the special session. His importance was the passage of money for much needed state capital improvements. The governor lobbied hard in behalf of his program an effort which apparently paid off. Last week the House determined that if 200 million more must be better after two days of debate the House approved the authorization and appropriation of three

hundred fifty million dollars in state construction and improvement projects. That's 100 million dollars more than was included in the governor's proposal. The governor's proposal is 250 million and he has named projects. The House Budget Committee started looking at the projects that he recommended and looking at the overall scheme of things in priorities that have been established by various departments and found that he had skipped over certain projects. You know at some point we have to have the opportunity to have our input and this was a time before where you know at the end and we're simply not authorizing any new projects we're winding up and closing up and bundling up projects that are ongoing. If we allowed him to simply start. Additional new projects and some of the things that we consider to be priority were not being considered. He asked us to consider authorization. This is the only way that I can pass a bill. I can't pass a bill with that

250 million dollars because it's obvious that he's jumped over priority projects. The only way that I can in my judgment I can pass the bill is for it to go back with his hundred million dollars and pick up the projects that he did not include in 250 million that people can look and see our priority projects are and priority items or pork barrel. That was one of the questions debated by members on the House floor for today's House members consider the bond legislation. House bills one and two were the substitute authorization bills which established the three hundred fifty million dollar total. And the list of projects to be funded. House bills three and four were the partner appropriation bills in the end. All four bills passed but not without much discussion. Some legislators question the geographical fairness of the projects selected for funding and others while voting for passage expressed concern over the state's ability to

finance to pay back the bonds. But for most of the projects a lot of them are needed certainly there's an innovation urgent. The problem we've had is we have no enough money to pay for the corporations of the legislature for the last two three years the governors have had to withhold funds from that apart. We have we have desperate operational correction systems. We've got teachers who feel like I need more money for their systems and regular education and higher education. We have a lot of needs in child care and in taking care of abused child where the children where they're cutting funds and so what this does is it takes money off the top of the general revenue fund. If we have a fine and good. I just like your home situation you don't go out building a new house if you don't mind taking money off the top of the general revenue fund. Well the payments for the bonds come out of general revenue. I still have some good things authorizing

time with states not sound financial. This might help Mr. Bradley. We would be sitting at the same time tax revenue reform. I don't see that. And so I was reluctant to bet about it. When Governor bond first proposed his 250 million dollar bond package Kansas City area legislators were concerned their city wasn't receiving its fair share of projects with the additional 100 million dollars now under consideration. Kansas City stands to gain an additional 15 million dollars in projects projects which include a new business school for you M K C I think the going opinion is that Kansas City and Kansas City Jackson County and its communities as

well in this bill. We would never expect to get. There are some significant projects nationally. We can spend over 350 million and can sit in Jackson County we have to be realistic. University of Missouri Kansas City is being treated fairly. Highway development bridges maintenance and repair. Other states don't have the economic development of the river. All these things among others I think in that we have a pretty fair package. If we could improve it I'd be glad to do it but I don't want to lose it and I think that it's a very good opportunity to say I would do these brothers will be a great great advances for some areas. The additional 100 million dollars may mean the very survival of cherished institutions.

This is the law school of the University of Missouri at Columbia the school was established in 1867 and is the oldest state law school west of the Mississippi. The Law School is in trouble. Unless it receives the funding to make possible the construction of a new building a new facility the Missouri law school may lose its accreditation. In 1977 the law school was placed on probation by the American Bar Association. The Aviator determined that his school was not in compliance with Bar Association guidelines because the school was too crowded at that time. There were about four hundred fifty students enrolled here. Current facilities are designed to handle only 250 students. There are lots of problems. The classrooms are crowded. Many students can't see the blackboard. They're not air conditioned and they're very noisy and in the spring when the windows are open if you go into a library

particularly in the afternoon when students are out of class and are doing their research and they're studying it's almost literally impossible to find a student come up to me after class the other day and said I want to ask you a question. I said fine go ahead she said you know I've got to go in the library get a seat first and then I'll come back after I save my seat so I can talk to you. Now that's not unusual. We are extremely crowded in the library. Our space is so limited in comparison with other law schools of similar size. The University concluded that we needed a new building and so in 1981 it requested and the legislature gave some planning money so that a new building could be designed. The new building was designed all that was needed now was the construction money because of declining general revenues. It looked as though the bond money would be the only way to pay for it. When Governor bond announced the details of his 250 million dollar bond package no mention was made of funds available for the new law school except the priority coordinating board.

We had agreed with officials at the university that we would provide funding in fiscal year for fiscal year 1985 for the law school additional money they've included for the law school. We told everybody that the University of Missouri understood that if we went ahead with 250 we were going to come back the recommendation in January which would include many of our alumni including a number who are members of the legislature began to be concerned that if we didn't get at least the first phase of the building in the special session that's going on now the bonds might run out. There might be a further bond issue in January and consequently that when the university was ready to request money for the building there would be any money there at all. And then the accreditation problem could become a very severe one. So that's the reason that some of our alumni began to ask the legislature to take some action in the special session where you had one very powerful ally

one former in the form of speaker Bob Crippen. Yes. Speaker Griffin has been extremely interested in this project and has been very concerned that it get funded. And ironically that is the only project of all of the construction that we have. That is under the threat of loss of accreditation. And unless you have the accreditation a student graduating from that law school cannot take the bar examination cannot practice law. Obviously we don't have general revenue funds to appropriate for that kind of construction. So it has to go in this bond issue and if it doesn't get in this time in my judgment when you get into the process of ramping up phased in projects there's a there's not going to be enough money to go around in a further issuance of bonds you know beyond this issuance for new projects to be considered. The House chose to authorize and appropriate six point one million dollars for the law

school that would take care of the first phase of construction. The chance the Senate will approve the funding looks good. The Senate Appropriations Committee has tentatively approved the issuance of three hundred fifty five million dollars in bonds. Included is money for the law school. The full committee will vote on the issue next Monday morning. The measure will then go to the full Senate for consideration. I think that in this instance. The possibility of proving the 350 million dollar bond issue through the Senate is good. I'm a supporter of the bond issue. I will vote to pass through it in 50 million comes to the Senate. And I believe there will be 18 votes in the Senate to do the same thing. As for the governor he apparently has no problems with the additional projects the legislature has. We are we're going to move ahead with another hundred seventy five million dollar recommendation in January in any event for the additional hundred million.

We would only increase the debt service cost by about a half a million this year and 5 million next year. So long as we go ahead with the plans which generally we've outlined filling taking care of the needs in the prisons and higher education the other areas the legislature can go ahead and issue additional amounts. We felt that the 250 was was a good solid reasonable package. If both Houses want to go with 350 that's fine with me. What speaker demonstrated is that once we make a proposal then speaker has you know he has the opportunity working in the house to change that. However he wants to change it in order to secure passage and his change is something that I accept. It's just like the taxation we've proposed a revenue raising measure. It's now before the House and if the speaker wants to change it to get it through the House can do that. I've said I've made my proposal but I'm willing to

work with the legislature on whatever they pass out of both houses. Well Governor Biden seems very agreeable to the changes made in his initial program raising it by a hundred million dollars. Why is he so kind about all of this. Well Governor bond once those bonds and I think that that he take it however was offered to him because it's so important for him he called a special session in order to address the issue of the bonds the versions. Are a little bit different the house a version calls for three hundred fifty million dollars to set it up that by about five billion dollars so. They're going to have to reach some sort of negotiation between the various versions. Also the Senate version Xclusive two fairly important projects for the Kansas City area. The funding to community college construction projects and what's going to happen with that I don't know. Well Governor buying his line item veto power will he exercise it in the case of the bond issues.

He can do that he has the authority it's very very doubtful because there's a fairly complicated formula by which the bonds were issued. There's so so much percentage goes to capital development or capital improvements so much goes for economic development so much goes for education. And it starts a line item veto in specific projects. Then he throws that whole formula out of whack and it's very doubtful. Yes or No will a tax increase through session. It looks doubtful. Thank you Bill. To Grandmother's House We Go always part of the Thanksgiving tradition and tonight. Producer Michael Murphy and reporter Joe Brisbane take us to Wells Hill Kansas to meet an artist who calls herself grandma. Late. Last summer she had a major show in the National Council on Aging Gallery in Washington and a show in New York for 74 year old Elizabeth Leighton fame has come quickly. And her story gives special meaning to Thanksgiving. There isn't any famous I wouldn't call it.

Point it is. The pictures are becoming. More lively because. I think people. In Wales. Would would tell them very average. Hopefully. Always. An average person. Notions of fame and fortune don't have a place in Elizabeth Lane's art world despite the fact that our critics are fond of showering her with words like genius extraordinary visionary. The Van Gogh of contour drawing. She has quietly produced scores of highly detailed colored pencil drawings of herself and her husband Glen for several years now. Each time she draws a line it is an exercise in

liberation an expression of the joy and pain in her life. Elizabeth Leighton knows both extremes for her art has been successful there. She credits contour drawing with changing even saving her life following a time when she had undergone numerous shock treatments for severe depression and was in grief over the death of a son. For 34 years. Which is an abnormal thing. And then at the. Particular time I was in grief over the loss of. These two things together and I. Know I had. Done this job. Twenty seven years and I had been. And I survived.

But. It was hard I'm sure it was particularly hard for Glenn because it is very hard to live with somebody who's depressed. And. So with the grief on top of this abnormal depression. I felt that I needed. Some help. More than I had. So I decided to take my sister's urging and. Enroll in. Our class and our university. So when Dan and. Enrolled and the teachers and I'm teaching contra drawing I never heard of contour growing. So this was nice because I just happened into that. So then I start I came home and. He said Go home dry everything you find you one girl and if you when are some girl girl yourself. So Glenn went from day one that I sat here. At the kitchen table and with a little hand

mirror and you know my family's. So I took he always made his post things in the hall and they're sort of. The next class in post. In. And. You're busted. You write then says you you have all those wrinkles. Ally knew I did because I had seen him. Before and you have. I mean you have seen him drunk so I think it is the fact that we try to hide the things we don't and people don't want to think of me as. Being old. My friends don't. Already go. For ugly which is what I was driving myself. So. It was a question of of hiding or bringing it out and putting it down on paper.

Seem to be feeling. A whole lot better about yourself because. You know yourself you know. Much more really fairly like. You know you live in you come out and you. I guess I just make myself as beautiful as I can now and when I first started out. I can remember one picture I drew. Several of them and do it first and. Let them play. There still are ugly but this was about a filter that was because I hated myself and then as I went along in this depression my own way with for a year was that the depression was gone. So I. Have to that. When that was gone and I was feeling better about myself. Then I started drawing. Happy pictures and making myself useful. And now.

Like I make my hearing I used to make you block and then I even try to make my hair look prettier. I make myself real right here. It isn't really that bright but. I fake a little on that. And then I put ashy color in my cheeks and. Are just making more. I'll just make them beautiful because that's the way I like myself now. How to explain the contour drawing process that you use counter or brine drawing the color. You look at your subject and draw at the edges of your subject. And you don't look at your paper. But. You believe that. It is more expressive lawing. The feelings come through much better. And. Maybe good to feel something. That. Doesn't even. Round sometimes. If you draw it you maybe your I'll be clear off outside your head but still that

looks like this thing that you're drawing. On to drawing. Is something that the left brain won't do. Left brain says. A stupid do it. Now the left brain is very very logical. And the right brain isn't so it turns it over to the right brain. So if you're doing contour drawing you're living during a time on the right side you bring. In here on this side you begin to see the other. You don't blame people you don't blame. You don't place blame you don't judge things. You see things as there are any in proportion to. Each Other. It's because you're on the right side and your brain is somewhere that frees you from. Our Lives and frees you to think. Of think more deeply.

You know I just sat here for 70 years. And didn't really have a thought in my head. So I think being on the right side of the brain would help. And I think this is a coming feeling. I read that you have three rules of contour drawing that. You stick to and what are the. Draw those lines. Now if you go you know if you're drawing this on those That's not honest you've got to follow that line exactly as you see it. It's really a pretty slow process. Draw on those lines. If you make a mistake leave it. So you know everybody makes mistakes. And I've seen him add to that a lot of times you make a mistake and it turns out better than what you had. Started to do in the first place. And then a third Don't lose your license. Now I think that refers to coloring when you color you color up to

your line or if you color over it you use a transparent color so you still get your pencil line. And those are good. I decided. Our good lives rules to live by. Because. Honesty is very important. And don't lose your mind. Keep your prints books. Stand up for your principles. You seem to be the exception in the art world and that you're not concerned with whether or not your paintings sell. Why don't you choose to sell them. Because I felt this was a miracle. And if I told them they'd go away. The miracle would go when I went there to draw anymore and then on disk. Covered that that wasn't going to go away. But. If you. And I felt like I needed to keep it together if I was all over or wherever.

And you see one painting it or one picture doesn't do too much for you probably nothing. But if you see a group perhaps it will. Bring more response from you more feeling. And this is what we want to do. If I. If I say. I've got this money and what can I do with this money that will give me as much pleasure as to. Give that picture do you see. And perhaps respond to. Hopefully respond in some way. And the whole value of the picture is in your response. And you're right it did for me. When I made it. The picture in itself is. Worthless. So I would hope that. Who ever looks at a picture will respond in some way made me inspired to

do. Go out and. Do something on their own. Like you know. The fact that I made a picture isn't worth anything. But the fact that you made a preacher. Would you go out and do it. Is for the fact that you go out and sing songs or do anything. Because you've been inspired by. Our critics Kay Larson in particular. She called you a genius. Because that kind of. Bother you how do you handle that. My answer to that. Is if everybody is a genius and you are the paper. So I'm not that. Good point. It takes more it takes. To work together.

Everybody is a genius. Yes I am. Yes you are. Oh. We think Grandma Leighton for sharing her thoughts with us. We turn from art to athletics now. Today's topic old football rivalries in last weekend's reborn old rivalries UCLA beat Southern California. Michigan beat Ohio State and Kansas beat Missouri. The 37 27 victory in Lawrence counted as an upset. And as Steve Holmes reports the Missouri Kansas game is more than just a game to the partisans in the two camps. And it was written in the eleventh chapter of the Big Eight schedule that an army of black and gold clad Warriors led by the powers that be would advance from Missouri westward across the plains. And it was further written that they would invade the homeland of those called

Jayhawks and there would be much weeping and gnashing of teeth and waving to TV cameras. Oh yes Kansas won 37 to 27. In the 92 game series Counting Saturday's game. Missouri has won 43 times Kansas 40. They've tied nine games but Kansas has won five of the last nine including Saturday's game and the 1981 meeting the last time they played for much more than pride. That year both teams went on to a bowl game. Fans on both sides remember and before Saturday's game sounded prophetic. All you have to do is have a hat KUNM you and they really come on strong and they fight like they've never fought before. OK you always wins. You remember two years ago. Yes I do very badly in the reason that we do that they Mizzou is so lousy is they knew they were going to ball games are they. Why not. Let him win with going to a ball game.

Things like the Missouri gets a bowl bid can you knock some out. And that happen about what two years ago and have they got their bowl bid now. It's still going to be a good game because you will do what they have to do is a bigger hit than case they do you know because the K State game they stole my hat one was a first Missouri Kansas game you saw. 1932. And I think it's probably just not as much private end as there is now going after we have many more fans and each one of these stadiums only stated maybe six or seven thousand people now they're sitting around 70. So you have a difference that's when if people. Don't make it in different weather and 6am the rates place based there is still a big game. That's because it's a neighboring state. I just like Ravel but at the same time Missouri wasn't planned today I'd be for can I be rooting for Kansas and I'm sure if Missouri goes to a bowl game the Kansas fans are going to root for Missouri. But when we play each other it's just a robbery and

being so close and both teams play they really get up for it and play hard. I was born raised in Lawrence and when I was a little kid back in the 30s and early 40s was am you people I should come to town with their crepe paper streamers hanging on their car antennas narrow hang and I said gee whiz when I get big I'm going to go play for K and beat the hell out of Missouri. And the only problem was I never did get big. That's why special is it more special in case. Yes no question about it. No question about it. The K State game is nice to win but the big ones here again. If the coach can always be Missouri why they never ever have to worry about a job. There's a lot of hate here. I can't be it can't be that bad. Well I do love to beat the Jayhawks. I really do. Must win situation right. To me that's the season. I just feel better I know no one better. Why.

Everywhere that I sleep better at night we have to be OK you because we live in Kansas City and we don't get anything any news except from k u and Missouri never gets in the paper. That's why we have to be k you. There's a racetrack I really wish to the Mississippi and I've been I'm a I'm a grad you're miniature 1933. Started in 41 so I can I remember the KNU arriving late. Back then in those times and just still going today is a stronger than the one with Kansas State. I would say so yes I really believe it probably is a hawker from way back. I think I have more and more fight with the Missouri people than I do with the with with our own state people come because they're from Missouri probably and I'm from Kansas. It was Sunday either ABC TV movie

Lawrence would be destroyed by nuclear attack. But on the day before or the day after. Never mind global conflicts. Football was the serious business. Much of the lure of college football revolves. Not around the game itself. Thanks around. The additional. Magic thanks to the pre-game gatherings. Thanks and friendly rivalry. Thanks. Missouri goes into the Holiday Bowl. And. Stays home. The season finished time to put the costumes away. Perhaps until the eleventh chapter of The Next Big 8 scheduled. It to schools may face radically different off seasons on December 23rd Missouri faces Brigham Young in the Holiday Bowl. Kansas may face an NC Double-A penalty for past recruiting violations. Mike Farmer tonight is talking about where about the right shoes. A variety of types is available. FARMER

You know they don't make sneakers anymore. Used to be a while back when you went to play a sport tennis or volleyball or soccer or whatever even if you're a runner you ran in a tennis shoe. Well I don't know if you've been an issue story lately but I think what you're going to see is a variety of shoes made for each and every sport. Tonight we're going to look at a few of those shoes and talk about the differences between them. You can see here this you if you look at it from the side would look like a normal everyday tennis shoe. We turn it over and we look at the sole. And we can see that the soul is kind of waffle shaped. Rolls up on the edges. It's a pretty lightweight shoe. Well this is a ladies volleyball shoe. The specialty of the issue is that the rolled up side make it easier to roll off the side your foot when you're jumping and it gives you a lot more traction on the wooden floors. The mesh work in the side allows your foot to breathe a little bit easier and also gives for lightness of the shoe itself. The next year we have. Looks like an ordinary black shoe but the issue is what we call a bicycling shoe. And bicycling shoe has grippers on the bottom sole

to hold the foot firmly into the pedals. You can see that it's cut away here in order to provide some lightness to this you think about a bicycling issue is that it's a little bit stiffer than a normal shoe that allows for the person to be able to push a little bit harder on the president and not get the foot so fatigue when he's in a bicycling event. We move on down to the standard basketball shoe but even the issues of change nowadays it's really difficult to find a basketball shoe that is low cut. There's a good reason for that. Basketball Shoes. The soul part is remained about the same as it always has the heels a little bit thicker than what it used to be but you can see that this pattern is designed to adhere to wooden floors the side issue is important because of the fact that most basketball shoes nowadays are. Similar to high tops the old basketball shoes used to be a little bit higher than this but now they just come a little bit above the ankle bone and it's to give the ankle some stability and try to help us prevent ankle injuries or ankle sprains. We come down to the tennis shoe and this is a fairly versatile tennis shoe. Tennis shoes are designed a

little bit heavier on the bottom because of wear and tear placed upon them on the surface of the tennis court particular playing outdoors that friction tends to erode the toe portion in the heel portion a little bit quicker. And you see in this tennis shoe there's a rounded circle. That's where most of the pivoting takes place when you're playing tennis. The sides cut fairly similar to what all tennis shoes used to be. There's one interesting thing about this tennis shoe that. The back portion. Is wedge shaped. Now they claim that this helps prevent tendonitis in the heel quarter what they call the Achilles tendon by not allowing pressure in that part. This is a modern day soccer shoe. Again light weight. Measuring nylon in the sides the difference in this shoe is on the bottom. We see a lot of small. Numerous cleats. Now these cleats on as deep as what we'd see in a normal football shoe which will look at in a minute. The reason being that in soccer you do so much foot action. You had too long a cleat particular in outdoor soccer your foot might dig into the turf and cause a near foot problem. Or you may

in fact just not hit the ball at all so that makes soccer cleats a little bit shorter. In order that you can clear the surface the ground yet provide some good traction. Let me turn this you upside down and look at something interesting here the front cleats are a little bit lower than the back cleats and that's again because in soccer Your Front Party your foot's always just barely clearing the ground. Now this top a soccer shoe should be worn outdoors we see a lot of people wearing outdoor soccer shoes to play indoor soccer and that causes too much friction on the artificial turf. A good indoor soccer shoe looks almost similar to the foot portion of a good basketball shoe there's kind of a lawfully shaped sole on it. This would be a good example of a standard classical football shoe and you can see on this bottom there's five cleats in the front two cleats in the back you can see that when I turn the shoe upside down how it differs from the soccer shoe in the fact that the cleats are taller the cleats are a little bit more rigid. OK that gives good traction good cutting ability. Now this football issue as most are low cut football shoes it's difficult to find a high top football shoe anymore. Again

new materials are made of fairly lightweight. And then this you were saying these days is the old standard running shoe. This happens to be a Nike. There's a tremendous amount of running shoes available on the market. The running shoe differs in the fact that the soul is made a little bit differently than all the rest of them you can see that this running shoe has a soul that comes around the front. And has a wedge shaped hole in the back very thickly cushion because the heel strike so many times when you're running. You can see on the bottom of the shoe that there's not much concern for traction most of the concern in the running shoe is for comfort and for softness when it hits the ground. Now the other interesting thing about running shoes that they are extremely light weight their shoe weighs lighter than any other ones we've looked at. I think the important thing in a running shoe because you use them so much you may run 10 15 20 miles if you get a good running shoe that fits and gives you the support that you really need. Well as you can see we've looked at a lot of different shoes I think the important thing is that you try to buy a shoe that is designed for the sport that you're going to participate in these days many parents are concerned about the fact that

they can't buy a shoe for all of their kids for all of the sports they play in and they do make some very versatile shoes. For example a soccer cleat could very well be used to play baseball in in most instances is a good shoe to play football. This is Mike Foreman tonight we've looked at a variety of shoes for athletic events just for the health of the. Former next week. Talk about indoor soccer injuries. The convention and tourism business has become important to Kansas City's economy. More than 600000 people visited the Kansas City area last year and spent almost one hundred eighty million dollars he made possible about 35000 jobs. That plus tourist related construction helped ease the impact of the recession here. Jim Pritchard takes a look now at the work going on and its effect on the city's future. Much of the changing skyline is intended primarily for strangers outsiders who bring to the Kansas City area that fallible commodity money and then

leave. At least four major hotel projects are underway and several others are on the drawing board. The best known of course is the vest the widely heralded project that is supposed to be another key link in helping Kansas City's downtown make the transition to a first rate status as a convention center. The Vista alone will bring almost 600 new hotel rooms to Kansas City. But there are other projects. The Marriott in Overland Park with almost 500 new rounds. The new guest quarters nearby on Metcalf a Holiday Inn project to the east. The new dreary end near the sports complex across the street from another major hotel the Adams Mark. Within the next three years or so we can expect to see almost 2000 new hotel rooms rise in the Kansas City area bringing the total to more than 16000. So where will that leave Kansas City in the grand convention sweepstakes. A competition that is attracting dozens of cities competing for a cherished tourist dollars.

Jim can the city list ranks of five or six years ago by Time magazine as being one of the top 10 conventions that is in the country. And while we don't do rankings most cities don't do rank he's independent sources still. We just received a. Trade magazine that indicated we were still in the top 10. We were number 10 in the number of meetings held and we were some place as high as 6 in the attendance. Which is quite horrible fungal. I might add that at one time we were probably 23rd in the country and when Bartle Hall became a reality and was built got into operation we were able to market it. That was the catalyst that took us from twenty third to the top 10 so doing quite well. Well you know I believe that we are doing a good job. You know let's start our discussions saying that we're doing an excellent job. But remember there are a lot of other

cities the size of Kansas City smaller than Kansas City and larger than in the city that have the same promotional drive going out right now that they're going to do a better job of convention selling so we have a lot more competition out there. It's different than it was say 10 years ago. I think that almost every city in America has built a convention center. Very few major cities if they failed in that aspect. Do you think that Kansas City ranks in the top 10. All I don't know if rankings really mean that much I think that people consider Kansas City is an excellent convention location an excellent business convention location it depends on how you identify convention what kind of a convention. But our biggest problem is that we have been hurt very seriously by the loss of brand as a Braniff Airlines. And we have been hurt severely impacted. I mean terrifically impacted by the movement the operational hub from Kinsey to St. Louis. It's

difficult to fly in against a city if you make it difficult for your customer. You make it difficult to sell conventions and if it's difficult for the customer to get a good city we're going to have our convention rankings will lower. So we have an added problem. We were doing a good marketing job but we had a good solid recession on our hands that hurt every city and we had this Trans World Airlines situation that transport air transport situation that has made Kansas City non competitive and from many regions of America more professional meeting planners have said to me we are having problems running our meetings to Kansas City because we can't get flights for Mississippi. That city without a stop someplace else what's happened in Kansas City they're not professional airline people. They're just people who want to come here and spend money in our hotels and meeting halls and meeting facilities. And when they find it's difficult to get here they decide to go to someplace where it's easier. But

you know Kansas City has fared pretty well through this recessionary period and I see is coming out of it. But we're going to have some problems that will linger on longer than a hotel for eternity feels in other cities around America. What are the other problems that you foresee in the immediate future in the far future as far as continuing to maintain a good solid stable convention business. Well first of all I think Kansas City and I've been preaching this for 30 years I've worked in Kansas City almost 30 years in the hotel industry. This is one of the great cities of America. Without question it's a great city to live in and it's a great city to visit and it's a great convention city. And we know how to take care of convention delegates. We know how to take care of visitors in a very professional them are part of a very friendly manner. OK so we get that besides. Now we're through with what we are. We are a good city. We're a competitive city. But then the

thing to keep ourselves competitive we need to do a few things. We worked long and hard it was a 25 year battle to get bottle hall built 25 years. Now I hope it's not 25 years to get the expansion of Marvel all done. It's a simple thing we need big meeting capacity in Kansas City and we could get it under the lowest on the lowest level of bottle hall. And the city has to be responsible just like you and I as a responsible citizens of facing up this is a community problem. This is not a problem of just downtown Kansas City or just the hotel industry or the restaurant industry or the taxi industry it's a community problem. If people want Kansas City to provide a lot of service jobs which the hotel and convention industry does then we must address one of our major topics and that is the expansion of bottle hall. It's possible to do it. I think this city can afford to do it and we should get on with the job.

We can't stand pat. Right now we're talking to the mayor and city council about the possibility of enlarging our enhancing the meeting room situation in marble. We found there's a definite need for meeting space in the 500 person category. We have found a space we've identified that we know that the need is there. I think it's matter. Now the city council finding the money to do the project and and movie had been doing it. It's space that's what was always intended to be meeting space so we're simply finishing the build we want to finish the building off as it was designed to be back in the early 70s. There is some talk of the fact that in order to be able to attract the largest conventions you need for example a thousand or 2000 room hotel we don't have anything like that. Well the largest conventions we we did probably one of the best jobs that's ever been done on a large convention in the history the United States where the 1976 Republican convention and we did it without any

large large hotels. The day of the mega hotel the decade of the 70s people were building those big hotels I don't see many more them being built. I don't really think that Kansas City's got to spend its time worrying about the great big big conventions that's a that's a quote that's been used too much. I don't think you're going to find anybody building a big hotel if somebody wants to build a big hotel in this city I welcome them to come here. It allowed a lot of construction jobs and a lot of hotel jobs. They may not make any money and I might end up in a bankruptcy court. I don't think it's in the cards. There are some cities that have some 2000 room hotels and we have to compete against those. But I still contend that that with the size of our convention center with what's available here in the downtown core anyway that the package here is very good in the number of rooms that are within walking distance and so I would I don't think with that a large hotel necessarily in itself you know would have been that much of a factor in

helping us market no. But while this exciting development is underway there are failures in the downtown hotel industry. The once popular Continental will become an office complex. The unique president has stood empty for several years despite efforts to remodel and reopen and the Phillips house and its prime location faces financial problems again. So the looming question is are we over building in the name of progress and development. We have 15000 rooms here. There are 2000 rooms going up around Kansas City in different locations. My question is Where were all this new business going to keep coming from. We can only do so much if the the corporations have to expand. I mean everything has to has to go together. You just can't keep building new hotel rooms and just keep draining business off one hotel the other. It just doesn't make good sense I. I wonder sometimes why all these

hotels are being built when some of them are not doing as well as we all know they should be. Whatever I would say to you Jim is suspect. So let it be suspect did not tell you how I think. The investors that are putting money into all of these hotels must feel differently than I. A city of 1 million Want to one million two hundred thousand people will generate X numbers of rooms per night. So. That's. It. Mathematical. One. Now we're building way past that. We have a building boom going out in an Overland Park. We have one going in around the Country Club Plaza. We have it going on downtown. We had an earlier outhouse for spoils of fun in the new stadium. And before that we had the first bulge of new rooms out of the air. Really you should direct your questions to the investors of those hotels out of KCCI and perhaps you might get another.

One. But I bet it's a nationwide problem. Hotels are darlings of the investing love hotel. And for a wee professional hotel people that's fine it provides us jobs. So you know we can't argue about that but as a better you know in a strict sense of the word nationally and Kansas City may be right in the forefront. We have too much capacity on the market now the airlines have been going through this. They're just about coming out of it you know with load factors of 45 and you've read all the horror stories 45 40 percent. And we're about to embark on the same situation and we have very competitive price practices the same thing that's going on in the air industry. Air transport industry. Same thing will impact the hotels may be very good for the consumer. But your question to me is you know you directed to me as a professional hotel keeper. I think the competition is good for all of us. Be the investing

public. They have to make their own judgments on whether they should invest in hotels or not because remember most hotel operators do not own their hotels and are owned by big faceless faceless and nameless institutions are some type of fancy real estate investment group that's looking for tax shelters. So perhaps the game is changed but that's a long winded answer to a simple question I think we've got a lot of hotels Mr. Attorney I'll tell you that you know that what the occupancies are running in Kansas City as far as the convention is concerned. They're not we are a very labor intensive industry. So consequently somebody could get hurt. Can we expect to see more hotels in Kansas City converted or go vacant. Well Jim you will see that you know there's an obsolescence factor in any business. And as hotel properties get older

the cost of rehabilitation gets enormous. Sometimes you rehabilitate a hotel and it doesn't work we've had a couple of cases of that in downtown Kansas City and other parts again city too. I think that. If I were a hotel investor I'd be very cautious and I think they I might be cautious but that also is saying you know there's always room for one more in the game and I'll have a new one and let the fellow with the old one worry about him. But you know that's the free enterprise capitalistic system I think the system works. Yes there will be some there'll be some winners and there's going to be some serious losers. Jim both the man you talked with seem to think that the bottle convention center has got to be expanded. How much would it cost. Well the latest proposal would call for about eight point two million dollars to do that job. Now the fact of the matter is part of the facility that stands to the

north of the the large part of Bartle Hall is a big hole in the ground there is unfinished work there that was not finished because of lack of funding originally so it would take about eight point two million dollars to finish that out and they feel that they need that space hotels. You know we don't need any more hotels but it would help to attract even more people beyond the 600000 that we're going to have this year. If we can get that bottle hall project finished and there's a big push for that. The source of the funds Nobody is clear on where that money would come from. Thank you. Today is the 20th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's death in Dallas. Bill to Mantes looks back on what he was doing that day. Everywhere the jet F. Kennedy assassination is being read day and everywhere that is where they're not really dancing the nuclear movie The Day After instead. And journalists cannot leave such anniversaries alone we are pathologically incapable of passing a tragic historic site without commenting on it. Poking around in it

gawking tut tutting analyzing I spent a recent weekend on the campus of the university Missouri and Columbia where I was a student when John Kennedy was shot. That event indeed must have seared itself into my brain for I was able to recreate the details of that awful weekend in 1963 to recreate them almost hour by hour. For instance I discovered that I am still angry at the physics professor whose class I was sitting in when someone rushed in with the first assassination bullet and the professor said calmly Well that doesn't make transistors sound very exciting but I'm going to finish up our discussion of them anyway. And for the next 15 agonizing minutes he did. While on campus I also saw my old dorm room in which I stayed that weekend in 1963 glued to a radio while I caught up on two months worth of ironing. I don't argue that the Kennedy assassination itself set in motion the sea

changes of the 60s and 70s. The racial riots the other assassinations the trauma of Vietnam the moral disintegration of Watergate and all the rest. I can't quite see the one as the cause for the others but I do now date the start of all of that upheaval all of that creative destruction all that liberating heartache from November 22nd 1963 the date on which I personally put away childish things. Channel 19 will present a moving portrait of John F. Kennedy twice this week in the well known documentary film Years of light doing day of drums. The first broadcast is at 9 o'clock tonight. Immediately following this program and the second presentation is it 8:30 p.m. Saturday. And we'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Kansas City Illustrated. Until then I'm John Masterman Wishing you a goodnight and a happy holiday.

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