Future is uncertain for suburban icon King Louie
By Rick Montgomery, The Kansas City Star | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
A concrete floor is striped with ruts a foot deep. They once carried bowling balls returning from the pins to patrons of the King
Down a broad and colorless ramp, an oval expanse of dirt marks the site where ice-skaters once twirled.
The place closed five years ago. Johnson County taxpayers now own it.
Some are fuming about that, noting that the
The sprawling structure faces a fate uncertain though arguably suitable for the old King Louie, where bowling and billiards shared space with figure skating and hockey: The county's plans are on ice.
"People are saying, 'Wait a minute, we don't have a compelling reason to be owning this,' " said county Commissioner
In November, Klika joined a 4-3 majority of commissioners in voting against the issuance of
County officials -- still voicing support for relocating the museum but split over how to pay for it -- now preside over highly visible property that could stand idle for many more months.
Motorists on busy Metcalf can't miss it. Blending 1960s-era flair with the rugged sweep of a
County officials hurried to acquire the building in late 2011 when owner
And with the local history museum in
But commission members who were later elected, including Klika, say they heard a different sentiment from constituents angered by the county's rush to buy the 74,000-square-foot building when budgets for libraries and road improvements were being cut.
"One of the options we need to explore," said Klika, "is what we can do to put it up for sale and get back as much investment as we can get."
Officials recently let
"We do consider this building to be an icon," he said. "We've done everything we can to maintain its historic character.
"Structurally, it's quite sound ... And with column-free spaces and high bays, it's perfectly suited" for the county's history museum, Waters said.
Despite the commission's narrow refusal to issue bonds, supporters of the King Louie purchase still express hope for someday using it.
That dirt floor once covered by ice and refrigerated piping, Waters said, could be the ideal canvas for relocating the 1950s-style All-Electric House, which stands adjacent to the cramped and low-visibility museum on
The county planned to fill other space -- and there's plenty of it -- with a site for early voting and by relocating the subsidized Enterprise Center, a business incubator now renting commercial space at a cost to taxpayers of a quarter-million dollars annually.
No longer part of the county's vision: A "
"Everybody scratched their heads to that," said commission Chairman
"Our original quest was to find a new location for the
Still, the verdict remains split on whether or not the county needs an abandoned bowling alley and ice chalet.
Family fun
King
Bowling alleys before
By erecting modern bowling centers around the metro area,
The company's core business was clothing, mostly uniforms and shirts. Its leap into bowling helped King Louie sell bowling shirts.
In the
Today, he said, "I drive down Metcalf and just get depressed."
A peek inside the old King Louie wouldn't lift many spirits.
Near a cold fireplace, a painted mural of skaters on a pond is sullied by graffiti. At least the entryways have been fortified with new doors to keep intruders out, part of the county's effort to prevent further deterioration.
All bowling equipment had been ripped out by the previous tenant,
The county tore down the scoreboards and bleachers near the ice rink, replaced outdated wiring, installed a temporary heating system and made structural and roof repairs.
But a lot more needs to be done to prepare the place for occupancy, said facilities director Waters. It lacks an elevator and a stairwell; the only access to the sublevel, where patrons skated, is by way of the ramp.
Commissioner
The cost of building anew, he said, could be double that of moving the museum into a renovated King Louie.
"This is history that we need to preserve," Peterson said. "But a lot of people just want basic services."
The building's fate might be settled after the next commission elections in November, some officials said.
Tight labyrinth
Starting in the confines of a 1927 schoolhouse, the 19,000 square-foot
Visitors wind through a labyrinth of corridors too tight for large-group tours. The basement flooded in 2009, sending the staff into quickly erected offices in all corners of the building. Mold problems arose.
There are no overhead doors for hauling in large items. A vintage BelAir on display is trapped by walls erected in one of the expansions. "We built around it," said museum director
Like many museum supporters, Love's enthusiasm for the cavernous environs of the old ice rink is buoyed by childhood memories of "playing itsy-bitsy spider" in the King Louie nursery while her mother bowled in a league.
Fond memories, however, have no place in governance, said
"Sure, I liked going up there for dances when I was at
After AMF moved into the facility, "they pretty much trashed it," said Lerner, a managing member of King Louie's clothing plant in
"I can't begin to fathom what political entities do," he added. "You've got to move on. You can't be nostalgic about that."
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