BCCP 4743 Troost Suite 200 Kansas City, MO 64110-1727 Ph: 816-523-2991 Fax: 816-523-2281     ARCHIVED NEWSLETTERS                                   TOP                                                                                                                         TOP                         TOP                   TOP

THE BRUSH CREEK BULLETIN Volume 6, Issue 6 July/August 2004   KEMPER MUSEUM'S TENTH YEAR NOTES MILESTONES AND GROWTH The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is celebrating its tenth anniversary year by expanding both its exhibit space and its footprint in the community, and publishing a catalogue that chronicles the permanent collection and special exhibitions that have graced the institution in the last decade. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: The First Ten Years catalogs approximately 200 works in the museum’s permanent collection and lists the more than 100 special exhibitions it has featured since 1994. At the heart of the publication are the more than 195 color plates and 14 color thumbnails of the Kemper Museum’s growing permanent collection along with descriptive text about the selected artists. Kemper East at 200 E. 44th St. is the latest amenity introduced to Kansas City's Cultural Corridor. More art from that collection will be on view this fall in the new gallery space that once housed the museum’s administrative offices at 4420 Warwick Blvd. Since the museum’s opening, the permanent collection has more than tripled to approximately 800 works of art. The additional gallery space, anticipated to open in October, will measure 1,600 square feet and will be named the Sally Kemper Wood Gallery. The gallery once known by that name will become the Barbara Uhlmann Gallery. The museum is operating normally during the construction phase. Administrative offices for the museum’s nine staff have moved to Kemper East at 200 E. 44th St. in a three-story mansion located one block north of the Kemper Museum. The building also features changing exhibitions with works from the museum’s permanent collection, the first being “Defining an American Place,” on view through the fall. The new site includes a reference library, boardroom, conference rooms, and areas for special events. Until construction is completed at the Museum, Kemper East will house the Museum Shop. Museum Director Rachael Blackburn Cozad said, “In acquiring and renovating this landmark property—an historic home built in 1906—and with our other efforts to reach out to the community, the Kemper Museum further expands its responsible mission to hold, preserve, and exhibit works of art as a public and educational service, and to provide free educational opportunities to approximately 120,000 visitors annually.” More information about the museum is available at www.kemperart.org.   PARTNERS PART OF SIGNIFICANT AWARDS Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute Receives $15 Million Grant The National Institutes of Health has awarded Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute (MAHI) in Kansas City and Washington University in St. Louis more than $15 million in a Specialized Center for Clinically Oriented Research grant to fund a five-year, multi-center study of patients recovering from heart attacks. The project brings together the basic science expertise of Washington University with the clinical outcomes strengths of MAHI and the University of Missouri-Kansas City to eliminate the excess burden of heart disease in diabetic patients and determine and define racial disparities in outcomes of patients with heart attacks. John Spertus, M.D., M.P.H., director of cardiovascular outcomes research at the institute and UMKC professor of medicine, will lead a $7.1 million, five-year, multi-center study of patients recovering from heart attacks. In total, 4,500 patients from 13 hospitals and medical centers around the country will be enrolled in the study, which begins in 2005. Midwest Research Institute Part of $390 Million in Government Contracts Midwest Research Institute (MRI) is part of a team involving a $390 million contract from the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command. MRI is involved in a project designed to protect 200 military installations around the world by performing equipment testing and installation, sampling, analysis and training. MRI has been operating a similar pilot project for the Army for the past year for six military bases. The research institute is working with team leader Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego; Johnson Controls of Cape Canaveral, Fla., is also on the team. Community Foundation Grant Puts KCAI Artwork Downtown The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) will be the focal point for a new generation of contemporary public art through a $500,000 five-year grant from the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. The KCAI Art in the Loop program calls for the creation of two or more permanent works of art per year to be produced by KCAI faculty or graduates and placed on view downtown at sites to be chosen by a committee. Anticipated to begin in 2005, the artwork will be installed within the downtown loop, defined by I-70, I-670 and I-35 as they encircle Kansas City, Missouri. The program complements a public sculpture project recently initiated by DST Systems Inc. and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in which the museum will select one sculpture a year for the next five years to be purchased by DST and exhibited publicly on DST’s downtown properties. KCAI, the Community Foundation, the Kemper Museum and DST are all members of Brush Creek Community Partners. PARTNER UPDATES George Hayes, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City since 1999, leaves Kansas City in August to become the president and chief executive officer of the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado. Hayes started his career with Saint Luke’s in 1981 as an administrative resident. The Medical Center of the Rockies is under construction with its opening scheduled in 2006. He has been a member of the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors since 1999, serving almost all that time as the co-chair of BCCP’s Council on Community and Economic Development. Sandra Lawrence, senior vice president and treasurer of Midwest Research Institute, has been appointed to the Kansas Bioscience Authority by Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The authority is charged with the recruitment of scholars, construction of research facilities and commercialization or products and businesses generated by research. Lawrence is a member of the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors. St. Francis Xavier Parish is the new home of Brookside Day School, Inc. beginning this school year. Brookside is leasing from the church the building that previously housed St. Francis Xavier Elementary at 5220 Troost. The location will provide ample classrooms to expand Brookside’s charter school enrollment and maintain its preschool program. Registration is now open for most classes from preschool through sixth grade. Renovations on the facility are in progress and will include central air conditioning. Brookside Day School has negotiated a five-year lease with an option to renew. The University of Missouri-Kansas City is the chartering body that sponsors Brookside Charter School. Charter schools are public schools of choice governed by their own boards and operated locally for students residing in the Kansas City Missouri school district. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has begun a project with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, to make available an online version of the complete works of Hippocrates and other ancient physicians. Jeff Rydberg-Cox, co-director of UMKC’s Classical Studies program and assistant professor of English is creating data to be posted on NLM’s website of The History of Medicine Division and The Perseus Project of Tufts University. UMKC is deemed the only known source capable of providing the digitization services. Texts for the project, “Digital Hippocrates: An Online Version of the Great Physicians’ Complete Works,” are printed in the original Greek and/or Latin with English translations when possible. Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute has received a $300,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to fund a three-year clinical investigation to identify the biological reasons for increased rates of heart disease among patients with diabetes. The recently-developed imaging technology called Virtual Histology™ will be used to study the composition of plaque that causes blockages in arteries leading to the heart. Approximately 210 patients will be enrolled in the study. Candidates include patients with insulin resistance and those with and without diabetes admitted to the hospital for a coronary revascularization procedure. CORRIDOR PARKS DEPARTMENT NEWS Mill Creek Park Showcases New Overlook and Eco-Pond Addition Patrons of Mill Creek Park at 47th and Broadway are enjoying a new eco-pond and overlook at the park’s north end. The tranquil new eco-pond replaces a seep area of the park and includes a waterfall and Missouri native plants. The $300,000 project was dedicated by the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners in June. The heavily-used park also features a new exercise trail. Eco-Pond at Mill Creek Park Another urban myth had it that Pendergast buried his enemies under the concrete. Former Mayor Emanuel Cleaver says when the Brush Creek flood control project engineers began digging out the concrete, "People cautioned me 'you'll find bodies in there.'" But Cleaver says the only bones found in the creek were "probably those of a small dog." Brush Creek Community Center Site of Dodgeball Mania Announcement of a dodgeball league on Monday nights this summer at the Brush Creek Community Center has prompted an “amazing” response, according to center director Chris Cotton. “We have teams ranging from middle aged lawyers to the staff at a local barbeque restaurant. This league has become more than a recreational program, it has become a chance for people to relive recess.” Success of the movie “Dodgeball” is getting some of the credit for the popularity of what the Parks and Recreation Department claims is Kansas City’s largest dodgeball league. League activities at 3801 Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard have no age groups, weight classes or skill levels, only players, a ball, and 1,000 square feet to run. The action culminates with playoffs and a championship match in the last half of August. CLEAVER YMCA GROUNDBREAKING SET The YMCA of Greater Kansas City is breaking ground on the Emanuel Cleaver Family YMCA, Thursday, August 26, 4:30 p.m. at 70th and Troost Avenue. Slated to open in 2005, the $5.5 million facility will feature an indoor aquatic facility, fitness center and teen center, along with space for sports, health and education programs. The new Y is named for Rev. Emanuel Cleaver, II, pastor of St. James United Methodist Church and former Kansas City councilman and mayor. Chairperson of the newly-formed advisory council is Rob Givens, president of Mazuma Credit Union. Both Cleaver and Givens are members of the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors.   PREMIERE COMMUNITY LEADER RETIRES Dorothy A. Stroud Steps Down After Decades of Civic Commitment by Carol Grimaldi, Executive Director Brush Creek Community Partners I have finally come to grips with the fact Dorothy Stroud is no longer on my Board of Directors. Her wisdom, humor and a passion that drives community betterment will be missed around that table. Every board needs strong leaders who can advance the purposes of the organization. Brush Creek Community Partners has been blessed to have such an active leader as Mrs. Stroud since the organization was incorporated and formalized in 1998. Dorothy Stroud Dorothy retired from all community service earlier this summer, having served on just about everything that has been important to the progress of Kansas City, including 30 years as president of the Sheraton Estates Neighborhood Association. Currently, her living room is lined with dozens of proclamations and other tributes she recently received in honor of all her civic involvement, just waiting to be permanently hung around the walls of her home. I met Dorothy in 1996 when she co-chaired the city’s Community Infrastructure Committee on which I was privileged to serve. That group worked hard to establish rational policies and processes for addressing the city’s capital needs. By following the committee’s recommendations Kansas City made some real headway in tackling the serious problems of deteriorating bridges and crumbling curbs and sidewalks, an essential first step to its revitalization. The work of this committee was embraced by the city and voters have passed subsequent infrastructure sales tax renewals, for which Dorothy campaigned tirelessly. Dorothy was born in Watonga, OK, one of nine children in her family. She was educated to be a teacher yet spent most of her working life as a dental hygienist. She and her late husband William moved into the Sheraton Estate Neighborhood in the late 1950s and founded the neighborhood organization with other residents who “had a dream to build something special.” She was relentless in pursuing that dream. In July 1999, she spoke with pride about participating in the ribbon cutting ceremony for Community Builders’ 88-unit duplex development, Mount Cleveland Heights, the previous month. Mrs. Stroud was also active on the Boards of Directors of the Housing and Community Development Financial Board, Community Builders (now Swope Community Builders), Family Resource Center, the Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance, Southeast Communities United and was national president of Carrousels, Inc. Attracting her to be on the board of this fledgling organization six years ago was a real win for BCCP. Five years ago we published a partner profile of Dorothy in the Brush Creek Bulletin in which we said, “Dorothy A. Stroud is more than just a board member of Brush Creek Community Partners; she is the foundation upon which other community leaders have been able to build a better Kansas City.” How true. How true. Thank you, Dorothy! We now wish you a retirement as fruitful as your civic and professional life has been. BRUSH CREEK HISTORY CLARIFIED The last two issues of The Brush Creek Bulletin features articles on the history of Brush Creek. In the May-June edition, we ran this photo on the first page with the caption, "Unidentified man along the banks of Brush Creek near the pedestrian bridge at Central and Ward Parkway in 1932." Upon seeing the article and photo, Ann McFerrin, boulevard archivist with the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department promptly told us that man is Wilbur Dunn, who was director of the Parks Department in 1932. Also, while the article focused on the challenges of taming the creek to allow for urban development, Ms. McFerrin points out, "Brush Creek was considered a good thing at times in its history. 'The legend goes' Daniel Morgan Boone used to fish there." We want to thank Ms. McFerrin and the Parks Department for all their help in our work to document both the past and present history of Brush Creek in The Brush Creek Bulletin. PARTNER CHURCHES COLLABORATE ON BUILDING A FAMILY'S DREAM St. Francis Xavier Church and Visitation Church are working with Habitat for Humanity to help a family build a home on the southeast corner of 34th and Euclid. With construction having begun in April, the house is well on its way. The churches are both members of the Brush Creek Community Partners. Visit http://216.136.109.119/habitat-sfx-vis/ for more information.