Neighbors of Crown Center

Across the street from Crown Center at Pershing and Grand lies beautiful Washington Square Park where the bronze equestrian statue of George Washington at Valley Forge keeps watch.

This statue is a replica of the one sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady, cast in 1906 and located in Brooklyn, New York in the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza and Playground.

The citizens of Kansas City, through the Patriots and Pioneers Memorial Foundation, raised $17,500 for the statue in Washington Square Park. The original plaster mold had been destroyed, so a secondary casting was molded from the original bronze. From this plaster piece mold the bronze for the Kansas City statue was made using the "cere perdue" or lost wax method and cast by Roman Bronze Works.

The pedestal was furnished by the Kansas City Park Department for $17,500, the same cost as the statue and constructed by Wight & Wight architects. Cut from a single piece of Pink Minnesota Granite weighing approximately thirty tons, the huge block was set down on a cushion of lead to take care of expansion and contraction.

On the pedestal is inscribed:

One Hundred And Nine
Thousand Citizens Gave
This Statue To Their City
Dedicated
Armistice Day, 1925
Rededicated
Armistice Day, 1932
The Two Hundredth
Anniversary Year Of The
Birth of George Washington

In 1921 the statue was placed temporarily in a park at Charlotte and Pacific Street. In 1925 it was moved to its current location in Washington Square Park. It was dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1925.

But the George Washington statue does not live in the park alone. At night anywhere from 3-6 homeless people sleep there. Among them is Sally, a 54-year old woman from Massachusetts who has been homeless since July 27, 2006. Traveling from city to city, Sally found herself down and out in Jefferson City in June 2007. She had exhausted all of the homeless shelters and had nowhere else to go. A kind man gave her $20, so she went to the Amtrak counter and asked where she could go on $20. And so she arrived at Union Station in an unfamiliar place, looking for help. She could see the Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception on 12th street and walked there, but found no help there. So she walked back to Union Station where at midnight she was told she had to leave. Upon hearing that she had no place to go, the guard informed her she could sleep in Washington Square Park and the police would not bother her there.

After working for 33 years, Sally became homeless through a series of unfortunate events culminating with surgery on her ankle that went bad, leaving her with large, open wounds on her ankle and rendering her unable to work. When she arrived in Kansas City, she was frantically walking all over, trying to familiarize herself with the locale. Exhausted, she collapsed in front of Crown Center and was taken by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital. Nothing could be done for her there, but she did get to sleep in a bed that night, and the next morning they gave her two bus tickets and sent her on her way back to Washington Square Park.

After arriving in Kansas City Sally's billfold was stolen. To get a Missouri ID she needed her birth certificate. She couldn’t send for it since she doesn’t have an address to receive mail. A kind person who works at Union Station sent for the birth certificate on Sally’s behalf. With that, Sally was able to get a Missouri photo ID. Now perhaps she can find some part-time work here and there.

Minimum wage in Missouri is $6.65 or around $1150 a month. An apartment in mid-town would cost around $450 a month. Even if Sally could find a job that wouldn’t require her to be on her feet all day she would have to spend more than half of her after-tax salary for an apartment. That would leave very little for electricity, water, food and bus money.

And so Sally sleeps in Washington Square Park.

It Takes a Village....Crown Center

Somewhere in the vicinity of 400 hearty souls, myself included, call Crown Center our residence...in two great condo buildings, Santa Fe Place and San Francisco Tower. Nearly a decade ago I lost my status as a bi-ped, and converted to a three-wheeled scooter as my sole means of mobility. The Crown Center complex is a blessing.

The other day I met a visiting friend at the Amtrak station at historic Union Station, which is connected by overhead walkways to Crown Center and consequently my home. As we made our way through the Station, the Westin Hotel, The Crown Center shops and ultimately the San Francisco Tower, my friend commented on the number of people, mostly employees of these various venues who greeted us. They offered assistance asked for introductions to him and welcomed him to Crown Center. He saw my home “turf” with fresh eyes and insights.

As a retired resident of the complex, one meets so many great diverse and fascinating people who work in the shops, restaurants, offices and hotels, as well as our own building staffs and neighbors.

While the complex plays host to thousands of local and traveling guests each day, there is a core population that truly is the Crown Center Village. Villagers who care deeply about one another, share their joys and tribulations and create an environment of inclusiveness and acceptance.

Next time you visit Crown Center, take note of the many villagers, to whom this is more than glass, steel and commercialism. It is our home and our village...and you are welcome.

Scooter

Life in Crown Center

The ground is frozen and it’s bitter cold outside. Most people are lamenting about cabin fever, but those of us who live at Crown Center are free to roam the links to Union Station, The Westin, The Hyatt and the Shook Hardy Bacon building without ever going outside! I just finished an hour-long walk with my husband without leaving the comfort of central heating (with the exception of that one section of the link to Union Station that is always too hot or too cold!)

We moved to Santa Fe Place in 2001 when it was apartments. By the time the building went condo in 2005 we enjoyed the lifestyle so much we decided to buy. At the time both of us worked at Hallmark and yes, we can walk to work without ever going outside! I retired this month, so now I occasionally walk over to Hallmark to have coffee with my husband! It’s a nice lifestyle.

There is always something new happening in Crown Center. The new Off Center Theatre just opened, and we are looking forward to seeing some of the shows.