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19-446: Kansas City Convention Center is the city's largest complex of multifaceted structures dedicated to meetings and conventions, sports, and entertainment. It has 388,800 square feet (36,120 m) of column-free exhibit space on one floor, 211,000 square feet (19,600 m) of tenant finishes, a 200,000-square-foot (20,000 m) conference center, another 55,000 square feet (5,100 m) of additional space on two levels, 45 meeting rooms,

38-414: A 2,400-seat fine arts theater, and an arena that can seat over 10,700 people, along with a 46,450-square-foot (4,300 m) ballroom that was scheduled for an April 2007 opening. This is all connected to major downtown hotels and underground parking by glass-enclosed skywalks and below-ground walkways. The Barney Allis Plaza is a public square for outdoor receptions, festivals, and concerts. The exterior of

57-885: Is known as the Jay B. Dillingham Freeway. Jay B. Dillingham was a former president of the Stockyards. I-670 begins in Kansas City, Kansas , as ramps from I-70 / U.S. Route 24 (US 24)/ US 40 / US 169 meet to form the freeway just before a bridge over the Kansas River , which is located just south of its confluence with the Missouri River . The freeway then crosses the Kansas – Missouri state line and enters Kansas City, Missouri . The road then has an interchange with I-35 just before passing beneath

76-605: The Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company which had outfitted travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail following the Kansas River . The company went out of business in 1862 following the failure of its Pony Express business from St. Joseph, Missouri , to Sacramento, California . The stockyards were established in 1871 on the Kansas side of the Kansas River along

95-627: The Kansas City Convention Center . The freeway passes just to the south of the Kansas City Power & Light District and T-Mobile Center in Downtown Kansas City. It meets up with I-70 / US 40 again on the southeastern corner of the downtown area; US 71 comprises the north–south portion of the interchange. In Missouri, I-670 is signed as an alternate route to I-70. The freeway

114-539: The Kansas Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroad tracks. In 1878 it expanded from its original 13 acres (53,000 m ) to 55, added loading docks on both the Kansas and Missouri Pacific tracks, new sheds for hogs and sheep, and developed one of the largest horse and mule markets in the country. According to the Kansas City Kansan : "In the heyday year of 1923, 2,631,808 cattle were received at

133-483: The Missouri River . The total project cost was $ 91.7 million , and it was completed on schedule in July 1994. Interstate 670 (Missouri) Interstate 670 ( I-670 ) is a 2.81-mile-long (4.52 km) connector highway between I-70 in Kansas City, Kansas , and I-70 in Kansas City, Missouri . The highway provides a more direct route through Downtown Kansas City than the older mainline I-70 and avoids

152-674: The 1940s. At its peak only the Union Stock Yards in Chicago was bigger. Business dropped off dramatically after the Great Flood of 1951 which devastated the stockyards and associated businesses and slaughterhouses . After the flood, the stockyards never recovered. The stockyards straddled the state line across the Kansas river with two thirds of it in Kansas and one third in Missouri. At its peak 16 railroads converged at

171-476: The Kansas City yards. Of these, 1,194,527 were purchased for use in Kansas City by the packing houses and local markets; the remainder or about 55 percent was shipped out. Of 2,736,174 hogs received, 879,031 were shipped out; of 377,038 calves, 199,084 were shipped out; of 1,165,606 sheep, 445,539 were shipped and of 42,987 horses and mules, all but 1,664 were shipped out." The stockyards flourished through

190-404: The additional convention space was built above a continuously open six-lane freeway, Interstate 670 . This required the installation of four 300 feet (90 m) tall pylons to support the facility's roof. This is the largest, column-free, convention environment in the world. It was designed to meet green building standards and achieved the city's first LEED Silver rating. The general contractor

209-476: The facility is highlighted by a 30 feet (360 in) high metal panel canopy over pavestone walkway at the main entry. The southern elevation of the building again features a high canopy with fixed blade sunshades and opens onto a decorative concrete plaza designed by Jun Kaneko, a renowned Japanese ceramic artist. The center sits above Interstate 670 , suspended by steel cables supported by four 335 feet (102 m) tall concrete pylons. The sculptures that crown

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228-555: The filming of a music video for the U2 song " Last Night on Earth ". The closure, which was criticized by a local American Automobile Association official, caused some traffic congestion and was the subject of 50–60 complaints to the city government. Kansas City Stockyards The Kansas City Stockyards in the West Bottoms west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri flourished from 1871 until closing in 1991. Jay B. Dillingham

247-442: The pylons, called Sky Stations, were designed by artist R.M. Fischer in 1994. Each is made of aluminum and steel , approximately 24x15-feet in diameter, and between 20 feet (6.1 m) and 25 feet (7.6 m) in height. They were primarily inspired by the 1930s Art Deco chandelier and decorative design elements throughout the adjacent Municipal Auditorium . They were placed atop each pillar via helicopter . Lightning damage

266-626: The sharp turn (and reduced speed limit) of the latter at the west end of the Intercity Viaduct . I-670 also makes up the south side of Kansas City's Downtown Loop , where it passes under the southern half of the Kansas City Convention Center . The road crosses the Kansas River and the West Bottoms , the former location of the Kansas City Stockyards , on the I-670 Viaduct . The leg of the highway west of I-35

285-612: The yards. In 1974 the City of Kansas City and the American Royal livestock show tried to reclaim the area by building Kemper Arena on the former stockyards land. The closing of the stockyards ended Kansas City's overt ties to being a cowtown. The stockyard's biggest heritage then became the annual six-week American Royal agricultural show held each October and November nearby at Kemper Arena until 2010. The naming rights to Kemper Arena were sold to Mosaic Life Care in 2016, but

304-584: Was Walton Construction. The site team included 2 LEED Accredited Professionals documenting and tracking materials, construction methods, recycling, and waste management. Architects were HNTB Architects , BNIM ; engineers were Henderson Engineers; and multimedia, acoustics, and IT were by Shen Milsom & Wilke. In 2000, American Institute of Architects wrote, "The 1976 building is architecturally noteworthy for its structural system of steel trusses that frame directly onto triangular end-frames." Those huge triangles were too heavy for highways, so barges carried them up

323-448: Was found to the easternmost Sky Station during an inspection in late 2015. The sculpture was removed for repair on May 8, 2016. The repair project cost $ 1.6 million, all but $ 250,000 of which was covered by insurance. The repaired Sky Station was reinstalled on September 18, 2016, and electricians also installed 50 LED lights, as part of the downtown skyline. The expansion of Bartle Hall was a significant technical challenge. Construction of

342-552: Was not part of the original planned freeways around Kansas City in 1955. The section east of the I-35 interchange was built first and finished in 1968. The western portion was not planned until 1971 and was not finished until several years later. By 1987, the freeway was extended slightly westward in the Downtown Kansas City area but was not fully extended to I-70 until 1991, when it was fully opened. On May 20, 1997, sections of I-670 and I-35 in Downtown Kansas City were closed for

361-548: Was the President of the stockyards from 1948 to its closing in 1991. The stockyards were built to provide better prices for livestock owners. Previously, livestock owners west of Kansas City could only sell at whatever price the railroad offered. With the Kansas City Livestock Exchange and the Stockyards, cattle were sold to the highest bidder. The stockyards were built around the facilities of

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