Project History

The concept for the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts began with civic leader and philanthropist Muriel McBrien Kauffman as early as 1995. She discussed her vision with her family and many in the community, but the idea truly took wings after her death. Her daughter, Julia Irene Kauffman, carried the idea forward.  As chairman of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, she put the wheels in motion in 1996 and charted a course.

Assessment Indicates Community Need

AMS Planning from Connecticut and Artech Consultants out of New York City were hired to conduct a needs assessment in 1997. This in-depth analysis looked at many aspects including facilities needs, the arts organizations and community readiness. Results encouraged the planning to go forward and indicated that the community was in desperate need for a quality performing arts center, the existing arts infrastructure needed strengthening, and increased public funding for the arts was important. Shortly thereafter, the City of Kansas City committed $47 million to the project, which gave it early momentum.

Design Team Selected

Formal planning for the center began in 1999 when the board began to interview architects. A short list of five recognized architects was created and they were invited to submit concepts for the building. Internationally renowned architect, Moshe Safdie, a dual resident of Tel Aviv and Boston, was selected for his brilliant concept for the project. He presented with award-winning theater designer, Richard Pilbrow, and acoustician Yasu Toyota, one of the world’s foremost proponents of the current “world acoustics revolution.”

Property Purchased

The 13-acre property was purchased in 1999 for its size and ability to become “a cultural campus.” It is also strategically positioned between downtown and the reviving Crossroads District and could play a role in revitalizing an important section of the city. PAC Holdings, Inc. was created to hold the real estate for the facility and a board of directors was organized in 1999.  Following that the various phases of design work began. Major gifts fund-raising took place in 2005 and 2006, leading to the decision of the board to formally break ground on October 6, 2006.

Construction Begins

Mass excavation was well underway by January 2007. Wooden construction walls quickly surrounded most of the site and earthmoving became the focus. During the first quarter of 2007, digging created the holes needed for piers, footings, and the foundation.

By September 2007, the orchestra pit for the Muriel Kauffman Theatre was excavated and footings poured and foundations for the flytower, the tall backstage area where equipment, sets, scrims, lighting and rigging are stored, were laid.  Additionally, the large mechanical tunnel serving the Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall was nearly complete to allow construction mechanical and plumbing equipment in October.

Another important activity at this time was the early work on the “south wall,” which stands between the center itself and the parking garage to the south. This wall, which is four-feet thick and 50-feet tall, must be put in place in order to anchor the steel embeds that will hold down the center’s structural cable system. An important part of the center’s design, this set of 27 cables will both hold up the concrete shells and hold down the glass of the lobbies. These gigantic cables will be held in place by the steel embeds that must be built into the center foundation. Each embed weighs about 3,000 pounds, is approximately four-foot square and is made of three-inch plate steel.

By December 2007, 10,000 cubic yards of concrete and two million pounds of rebar had been placed, nearly completing the foundation work. Underground work began in the central plant, enabling foundations and finished floors to be installed. Elevated decks were placed that allowed early mechanical and electrical work in equipment pits to take place.

In early 2008, walls began emerging above street level. The first elevation of walls was placed for the fly tower of the Muriel Kauffman Theatre. The construction of the anchor wall that supports the atrium glass structure was well underway. This wall will eventually encompass the 27 large steel embeds so critical to the integrity of the structure.

Throughout construction there have been many construction workers of various disciplines on the site including, including steel, concrete, mechanical, electrical and excavation personnel. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to to be open in fall 2011.

View current construction progress