On this visit we were not just passing through but stayed in Independence for a whole month chasing fountains and also managed to get in a visit to the Kansas City Zoo. Wandering around the metro area there are a lot of other interesting sights that really do not fit under fountains so I'll show them here with frequent references back to the fountain page.
One of the places we just kept wandering past time after time is the Hyde Park Maintenance Building with this sculpture in the front yard. It was designed by George E. Kessler who was one of the early proponents of comprehensive urban planning and a major influence in how Kansas City developed.
One of the fountains that did not make the cut for the fountains page was this non functional bowl on the Epperson House (F067) east wall. The house itself currently belongs to the University of Missouri and remains vacant. It has been featured on Unsolved Mysteries as one of the top five haunted houses in the United States.
One fine day visiting the Little Blue Trace Nature Preserve in eastern Independence look what we found on the bathroom wall. You may have noticed from my annual Halloween display in Columbus, Ohio I like spiders. Way over in the western metro area in Kansas were these sculptures at the Olathe City Hall that complement the fountain with sky backdrop shown on the fountains page.
Showing the dancing girls water feature at the Kauffman Memorial I also mentioned the wonderful gardens that surrounded it. While the fountain pool complements the garden it is not its primary feature and just blends into the overall design of this serine and peaceful place.
On the far right is Union Station viewed from the Liberty Memorial with the finallie of the Block Fountain just to the right of the three arches. In the middle is the view from the Weston Hotel Overlook with the Block fountain to the left in its dormant stage. Finally is a photograph of the T.Rex I was not able to capture in 2006.
Inside Union Station is the grand concourse that was filled with passengers in the good 'ol days when steam locomotives like this model carried most long distance travelers. Since I did not really notice when I took the picture you can see Lori reflected in the display case wearing her blue shirt.
The Kansas City City Hall Observation Deck is wonderfully still open and wonders of wonders still free. Located on the 30th floor it is two stories above the highest elevator so be prepared for a hike (sorry it's not handicapped accessible). It does provide a great overview of the city from over 400 feet above the top of the hill. Since it is not open near sunrise or sunset I waited for a cloudy day to get these photographs without the bright harsh sunlight of a hot June day.
Now finishing up our visit to Kansas City is a rather disjointed series of images showing things I just thought were nice views. The corkscrew in the sky is the Community of Christ Temple in Independence while the inside shot is a view of the Hyatt Regency Crown Center Skyway. My notes say the tower is in the Country Club Plaza where so many fountains are located but this time Google EarthⒸ failed me.
The Ilus Davis Civic Mall is a two block park connecting City Hall with the US District Courthouse. Looking west the double pointed building is the Commerce Bank. The city view is from a high point just east of Union Station and the single brick building is a private house just across the street from the Kansas City Museum complex.
Located outside the Leawood, Kansas City Hall complex I have no idea what this wild sculpture is intended to represent but it is distinctly different. The reminents of the City Parks Department Operations building built in 1910 burnt down in 1991. It has now been transformed into a performing arts center administered by the Parks Department and available to hundreds of performing companies. Finally is the facade of an office building just a block from Kansas City City Hall that I just liked because it is so very unusual to find a modern building anything other than a glass box.
On our first pass through Missouri we stayed on the north side and split our time between St, Joseph and Kansas City with many excursions throughout the area. We were delighted to discover it is a city of fountains in both states. I have put the Kansas City Fountains on this separate page and we enjoyed them so much we came back in 2010 for a month long fountain hunt.
Right across the street from the Bloch Fountain we stopped at the Union Station Science City because they had a small visitors center.
The current program for Science City was focused on sharks. Like dinosaurs the kids seem to really enjoy the big and wild. There is a big dinosaur sculpture outside but I was just not able to get a good photograph with the equipment I had at the time.
Other than the fountains this is about all we had time for in Kansas City proper but I'll be adding more when we come back including some overviews of the city from the top of City Hall.