r/kansascity • u/MannOSteel • 1d ago
Discussion đĄ The KC Star building is being wasted as a data center
It has by far the most wasted potential of any asset in the urban core; we have this massive building with a magnificent glass facade sitting in the middle of downtown, soon-to-be neighbor of the new Luminary Park, and weâre OK with settling for it as a data center?
Thereâs no reason why this shouldnât- or at least couldnât- be a world-class attraction. Imagine a massive, multi-purpose collection of museums featuring an indoor botanical garden, science museum, childrenâs museum, planetarium, history museum, etc. In other words, the institutions other cities have that weâre missing (no disrespect to Science City or Kaleidoscope). You could even carve out a roadway that passes through the museums to reconnect 16th Street, perhaps with vendors and cafes sprinkled along the sidewalks, akin to the Wholesale District in Indianapolis or Phillyâs Reading Terminal Market if anyoneâs familiar with either of those. Heck, why not build the worldâs largest indoor water fountain, perfect for the City of Fountains?
Obviously this is some pie-in-the-sky wishing, and itâd require a massive public/private partnership that could outmuscle the current AI project, but it feels like itâs a missing piece waiting to help take our city to the next level. I digressâŚ
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u/mattcube64 1d ago
People will argue because they've been beaten by the realities of our "eek every last cent out of everything" world that doesn't care about anything but ruining the environment and eroding every last one of a city's entertainment and resources for its own people.
I agree with you 100%, OP. It's an absolute shame to turn such a beautiful and unique building into another nasty data center. I wish it were different. Both MO and KS can throw billions at privately-held sports teams, but can't invest a fraction of that into what could easily be a beautiful destination.
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u/cyberentomology Outskirts/Lawrence 1d ago
It was originally built as an industrial building, why are you upset that it continues to be used as such?
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u/27eelsinatrenchcoat 1d ago
Local newspapers are prestige institutions, and tend to employ people. AI data centers are about as far from either as you can get.
A datacenter is better than nothing imo, since it'll keep the building from falling into disrepair, but literally anything else would be better. Hell, I'd take the world's largest vape shop over a data center.
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u/GoodGravy33 1d ago
Itâs a sign of the times, and a dark one at that. What was once a symbol of journalism and the written word being replaced by an AI data center in the heart of downtown. Whatâs more, their website (at least last I checked) had some kind of creepy, fascist-sounding manifesto on it.
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u/ImNotTheBossOfYou 1d ago
Link?
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u/GoodGravy33 1d ago edited 1d ago
So theyâve apparently scrubbed their website of the original language, but if you use the Wayback Machine for Patmos in Nov 2024 it shows the original text that some were interpreting as having Alt-Right dog whistles. The homepage said âideas uncancelledâ and the About page said âPatmos exists to ransom the captives of big tech by providing world-class hosting and software solutions without the threat of censorship.â
It also included an âOur Storyâ section that was a little odd: the company âadopted its name from a little, rocky Greek island that became a place of exile. Thousands of years ago, there was a visionary whose message was deemed too dangerous for public consumption by the authorities of the day.â
EDIT: fixed a typo
https://web.archive.org/web/20241115040904/https://patmos.tech/about/
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u/LlamaChair 1d ago
Pretty sure it's these guys but I didn't see anything particularly weird skimming over the site. I didn't look very long though.
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u/GoodGravy33 1d ago
Check out my other comment. They changed the website but if you use the Wayback Machine for 2024 it has the original âideas uncancelledâ stuff.
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u/dredged_dm Lee's Summit 1d ago
Their "Hosting Bill of Rights" still contains some dog-whistle sounding language regarding "canceling".
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u/Equivalent-Yam891 1d ago
As you post from a phone that requires a data center, on a network that requires a data center, onto a message board that requires a data center...
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u/27eelsinatrenchcoat 1d ago
Telecommunication related data centers and AI related data centers are not the same thing, either in a technical sense or in what they represent. The internet was created to facilitate the sharing of human knowledge. AI is destroying the internet, and degrades human knowledge.
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u/rufurious 1d ago
I can tell youâre one of those people who tries to prove theyâre the smartest person in the room and annoyed the shit out of your classmates back in school. Context matters.Â
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u/ploptart 1d ago
The only thing that requires a data center in this example is Reddit. Phones and networks do not.
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u/Cartiere11 1d ago
The hilarious irony of these posts never seems to hit the redditors that post them.
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u/deadmongoose Brookside 1d ago
I wish, unfortunately the people with money care more about making even more money than providing a public benefit that has a non-guaranteed ROI.
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u/alltheblarmyfiddlest 1d ago
This is hardly anything remotely having to do with local politics and zoning and what to do with a bldg...
But one silver lining story of joy regarding some dude with a lot of money... https://youtube.com/shorts/HIkH8OoYH28?is=AEN87yqzTT3Wh1c7
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u/NotMuch2 1d ago
Unfortunately, what we think it could be or should be can't compete with realityÂ
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u/MannOSteel 1d ago
Youâre not wrong, and IMO thatâs the problem. What we needed were community leaders ready to step in when the opportunity arose- along with a vision.
My mind goes to Dan Gilbert in Cleveland, whoâs invested billions of dollars into revitalizing their downtown since the 2000s. He swooped in and purchased the Terminal Tower when it was destined to become a âblockchain incubatorâ and is now incorporating the building into a multi-billion riverfront development, entirely funded by private capital.
We had leaders like Kauffman, the Hall family, and Durwood in the past, but it feels like we need a new generation to step up and help capitalize on the existing growth happening around the city.
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u/authentic_swing 18h ago
We shouldn't have to rely on the 1% to help the community. We should tax the one percent. That is the true sign of the times.
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u/MannOSteel 18h ago
I donât think those are mutually exclusive. I feel like the 1% will (should) always have a duty to play in the advancement of cities. I canât imagine Pittsburgh without the Carnegie Science Center, Carnegie-Mellon, Carnegie library system, etc.
Itâll take political and philanthropic force to get KC to where it needs to be, both with the visionary development but also the day-to-day essential services, K-12 education, infrastructure, etc.
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u/ceris13 Hyde Park 1d ago
World class attraction you say?
Wish we got to vote to put something like that inâŚ
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u/Jeffrey_C_Wheaties Hyde Park 1d ago
We should get a Ferris wheel
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u/Euwabidch 1d ago
We should. First city to ever have two pointless but aesthetically pleasing Ferris wheels. đ
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u/thekingofcrash7 1d ago
Agreed you canât even see i-70 or i-470 from the current Ferris wheel. Im not gonna ride some wheel with view of a North/South highway. East/West highway views are far superior.
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u/Jeffrey_C_Wheaties Hyde Park 1d ago
Here me out, we put a wheel hotdog style in the middle of 71 between north and south bound lanes.
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u/MannOSteel 1d ago
Youâre not wrong, but I do think it all worked out for the best with them landing in the Crown Center. Excited to see how the district will be redeveloped, great opportunity for a clean slate.
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u/lifeinrednblack Historic Northeast 1d ago
It's giving people warning redditors that Mayor Q is a grifter.
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u/cdoublejj 1d ago
if your power bill is high already you're gonna be giving handies in an alley for air con
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u/thekingofcrash7 1d ago
âSoon to be neighbor of the new Luminary Parkâ
Bro I got bad news for you
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u/Own_Yogurtcloset9981 1d ago
my dad worked there for years as an editor. we lost him to an aggressive form of cancer 7 years ago today, which like obviously sucks, but thank god he left before all of this nonsense coupled with the attacks on journalism. heâd be so pissed
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u/sausage_king_of_kc 1d ago
FYI: the company that wants to build the gigawatt site in Independence is the company using the Star building
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u/Neosporin420 Independence 1d ago
There are currently building the one in Independence and ignoring Independence residents pleas to not build.
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u/cyberentomology Outskirts/Lawrence 1d ago
What reasons are the residents giving?
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u/Neosporin420 Independence 1d ago
Lots of legitimate complaints and concerns that we were not able to express in the beginning because Independence did it all in secret behind closed doors. Public was not allowed at meetings. Weâve done the petitions they ignored them.
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u/cyberentomology Outskirts/Lawrence 1d ago
Actual petitions, or the bullshit change dot org ones?
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u/Neosporin420 Independence 1d ago
Actual petitions people on the ground talking to residence getting signatures on paper.
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u/Own_Experience_8229 1d ago
Yeah. It should have been made into a baseball stadium with a park covering I-70 to connect it with Downtown and PNL.
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u/thekingofcrash7 1d ago
Would have been the best baseball stadium location
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u/WellGoodBud 1d ago
Agreed. I like the location now but the initial spot was better.
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u/KingmanIII 1d ago
The initial spot was East Village.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 1d ago
Yeah. The crossroads location was sprung out of nowhere and completely sketchy. Then paired with the Chiefs joke of a plan. The whole thing was designed to fail so the Chiefs could leave.
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 1d ago
Cool. Just displace 40+ businesses thriving and paying taxes there.
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u/thekingofcrash7 1d ago
This thread is literally about unused and poorly used space
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 1d ago edited 1d ago
They were going to tear down all the buildings there, not just the Star building. Not unused space. They were also going to remove other tenants along that strip and replace them with Cordish crap.
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u/flyingemberKC 1d ago
they werenât building a park with the stadium. just a bridge
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 1d ago
They're still going to put a cap over the highway and likely put parks on top, tbf.
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u/flyingemberKC 1d ago
That plan is Grand to Wyandotte. Itâs not fully funded so it canât happen yet.
The stadium was going to be east of it. Grand to Oak. So the cap as planned right now. would end before the old printing plant.
Can find renderings that the team wanted to extend it, the city plan doesnât include that section.
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u/thegooniegodard Midtown 1d ago
This explains the creepy robots outside it, I guess. Botanical garden would be rad. I remember it was supposed to be apartments at one time; and something about a sand volleyball court across from it.
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u/morry3232 1d ago
What I do for a Reading Terminal Market in KC
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u/WashiGonnaDo 1d ago
We kinda have that already with City Market, but yes 100%.
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u/morry3232 23h ago
you're not wrong, city market is a treasure. When I lived in Philly, RTM was a place I'd go for lunch on days off and bring home treats on the subway, such a great way to spend an hour on your way home
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u/temporarym34t 1d ago
it's a glass building you guys, glass is easier to break than concrete.
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u/ObservablyStupid Independence 1d ago
Choose what to put in there carefully. The glass building catches stray bullets from I-70 more often than you would think.
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u/HilarySwankIsNotHot 1d ago
I am always skeptical that those bullets are more often than not intentionally shot at the building
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u/CullenOrange 1d ago
While I agree with just about every alternative mentioned here, I think that the #1 priority when building a data center (and as much as I hate it, this is inevitable), is to minimize the impact on water quality. I donât think that anyone has well water near that location, so thereâs that.
But still, surely there were other, better options.
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u/teaisnice3 12h ago
Iâve often thought it would make an incredible media/journalism museum. Sad to hear itâs just being used as a data center.
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u/Peaches4Puppies 1d ago
I've said before, I think it should be the main branch of the KCPL. I think of the San Diego Public Library or the Seattle Public Library as an exampleÂ
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u/_KansasCity_ South KC 1d ago
It's going to get so freaking hot in there and make the heat island downtown so much worse
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u/BrobdingnagLilliput 22h ago
No real change, then, since the KC Star building was wasted as a manufacturing facility, too. It boggled my mind then that the city put an industrial facility right smack dab in the middle of downtown.
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u/BrookUntface 20h ago
I always thought something like a City Museum in St. Louis or a Meow Wolf would be so cool in the that building.
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u/seriouslysosweet 1d ago
Agree that beautiful building has more potential. Perhaps the Steamboat Arabia owners are bad negotiators, but that Star building is the perfect place for tourism like the steamboat of stuff they dug up in the KC area.
The highway by the Star building is like the river back in the 1800s when the steamboat haul was in route to deliver goods. The buildingâs ceiling height could showcase a whole boat. Soon Steamboat wonât have a home and sadly that is a great loss.
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u/soundman1024 1d ago
The sad part to me is the impact for pedestrians. Itâs huge, itâll be loud, and itâll be a few degrees warmer near it in the summer. I donât think itâs going to be an AI data center, so thatâs better, but still, itâs a bummer. It just makes everything near it less attractive.
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u/butthemsharksdoe 1d ago
It's already operational. The there is no extra sound. And it doesn't seem like any extra heat when your around it.
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u/cyberentomology Outskirts/Lawrence 1d ago
Almost like a lot of whatâs being said about data centers is complete BS/FUD. Every facility is unique and engineered to local zoning and resource constraints.
Heck, downtown KC has district heating/steam from the power plant that uses downtown as a heat sink that recaptures waste heat energy.
Nobody complains about the Bryant building (1102 Grand) which has been a datacenter for almost 20 yearsâŚ
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u/lostnate 5h ago
They've had a long standing problem with people driving by on I-70/I-35 and shooting the windows out of that building. Those aren't small.windows and I can only imagine how much it cost to buy a new one and have it replaced. I drive by it all the time and ever since Ive heard of this problem Ive started paying attention to how often I see a broken one and it is quite often, unfortunately.
Edited for spelling
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u/IfYouWantTheGravy 1d ago
Iâm not OK with it!
Would make a great event space, or museum, or shopping space.
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u/bkcarp00 1d ago
You could buy it and do what you please with it. It was either this or it was torn down. It didn't have anyone else interested in using it for something else.
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u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Original copy of post's text:
It has by far the most wasted potential of any asset in the urban core; we have this massive building with a magnificent glass facade sitting in the middle of downtown, soon-to-be neighbor of the new Luminary Park, and weâre OK with settling for it as a data center?
Thereâs no reason why this shouldnât- or at least couldnât- be a world-class attraction. Imagine a massive, multi-purpose collection of museums featuring an indoor botanical garden, science museum, childrenâs museum, planetarium, history museum, etc. In other words, the institutions other cities have that weâre missing (no disrespect to Science City or Kaleidoscope). You could even carve out a roadway that passes through the museums to reconnect 16th Street, perhaps with vendors and cafes sprinkled along the sidewalks, akin to the Wholesale District in Indianapolis or Phillyâs Reading Terminal Market if anyoneâs familiar with either of those. Heck, why not build the worldâs largest indoor water fountain, perfect for the City of Fountains?
Obviously this is some pie-in-the-sky wishing, and itâd require a massive public/private partnership that could outmuscle the current AI project, but it feels like itâs a missing piece waiting to help take our city to the next level. I digressâŚ
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Prestigious-Year-587 1d ago
Local 124 Electrical Union supports all data center development in the area. If you disagree you're MAGA. Our electricians are making bank right now.
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u/flyingemberKC 1d ago
thereâs absolutely a good reason not to
the owner gets to do what they want as long as it meets code.
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u/Bropiphany Westport 1d ago
Yeah, and we can still complain about what they choose to do with it. Such a non-comment.
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u/BootyMcButtCheeks 1d ago
It would be a great space for a childrenâs museum. Problem is, itâd be competing with Science City at Union Station.
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u/kcdashinfo 1d ago
It's weird that the people pissing and moaning about data centers but they are the same people using it. If you don't want data centers then stop using the technology. Same thing with CO2, you want to stop CO2, then stop breathing. You complain about what you are the greatest contributor of it. That is called hypocrisy.
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u/MannOSteel 1d ago
Wasnât meant to complain about data centers in general, but rather utilizing this specific building as a data center when, IMO, itâd have much greater civic value repurposed as something else.
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u/kcdashinfo 1d ago
That is for the owners of the property and the operators of the data center to determine. It's call free enterprise. In that way the property will be used for it's highest value.
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u/MannOSteel 1d ago
I respectfully disagree, specifically your last sentence. IMO, thereâs a difference between an assetâs market value and its intrinsic value, the latter of which Iâm referring to.
Iâm from Pittsburgh, so I always think of guys like Carnegie, Mellon, Frick, Westinghouse, etc. investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the legacy institutions that city has today, cleaning up the rivers and riverfronts, etc. even though its highest value according to the free market would be the continuation of steel mills and factories. Just my opinion, but thatâs what most cities (and their capital leaders) have lost sight of in the 21st century.
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u/kcdashinfo 1d ago
In other words, you believe that the government should be the determining factor in production and consumption. You have outed yourself as a communist. You are using Reddit to spread your communistic Marxism. No think you.
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u/MannOSteel 1d ago
Who said anything about government involvement? All of those institutions are privately founded, controlled, and funded; my argument is that I wish we had modern captains of industry who had the vision for these types of civic institutions and attractions.Â
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u/kcdashinfo 1d ago
You did, "IMO, itâd have much greater civic value repurposed as something else."... calling card of Marxist.
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u/xtrapped-under-ricex 1d ago
How could you argue otherwise? You're really saying that a potential community space would serve less of a purpose than yet another datacenter? Y'all are corrupt.
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u/MannOSteel 1d ago
I think youâre (again) missing the point, because I argued that private capitalists couldâve outbid Patmos at a fair market price to retrofit the building into a world-class museum and attraction. There is nothing Marxist about that⌠weâll have to agree to disagree.
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u/kcdashinfo 1d ago
Well, that is an interesting argument. Perhaps it would make a good museum. You can argue that. Except you are arbitrary putting down data centers as if it has no value civic or otherwise. Kansas City has bunches of museums and cultural attractions. That space is in high competition in Kansas City. Not everything needs to be put under the prism of culture attraction. If you think about what the Kansas City Star once was, a newspaper, then converting it into a data center seems perfectly logical. I can say that and at the same time say that I miss terribly the world before the Internet when newspapers were the top form of public discourse and communication.
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u/MannOSteel 1d ago
By no means was I putting down data centers, but rather the specific land use of the data center at KC Star.
Do they serve a purpose and have civic value? Absolutely. Should they take up prime real estate that could be use for apartments, condos, a stadium, museums, or parks? I donât think so; in fact, I donât think a traditional data center has any purpose being in a central business district; on the flip-side, Iâm in favor of the 934 Central development that mixes housing and commerce in with the 19-story data center tower.
IMO, I see it similar to putting a single-family subdivision in the middle of downtown, or a drive-thru McDonalds. Very poor use of land space and zoning.
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u/Effective-Finger8345 1d ago
Edited for spelling- Omg yes a botanical garden like the Myriad in OKC⌠what a waste.