Downtown parking garage to be demolished, planned close to April

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) -Kansas City is planning to shut down the Barney Allis Plaza Parking Garage that sits between Central and Wyandotte Street. The plan is to demolish and rebuild it after years of code violations.

The third level of the parking garage has been closed for years after reports of concrete falling inside and on cars.

“Not only is it dangerous, but it’s an eyesore,” said Tony Donley, a regular in Downtown.

The 970-space underground garage people use when visiting downtown or attending events at the convention center is set to close in April.

“It’s taken too long to get anything done with it,” said Donley.

Downtown regulars like Donley said the demolition is long-overdue especially when only half the parking garage is in use after violations led the city to close the lowest of its three levels.

“It’s not something we want to show our visitors and it’s not what we want for people to live here, either,” said Donley.

Level two of the parking garage is currently reserved for Marriot guests. Christian Freeman, a former valet employee for the hotel said he likes the current garage and thinks it should of been handled with better care.

“It’s spacious, clear directions and it was just very unique,” said Freeman, “there was a lack of care and maintenance routine to actually keep it running and operational.”

The city is looking to rebuild it into a two-story underground structure with 583 parking spaces and refreshing the plaza for around over $110 million, a price tag visitors are hoping is put to good use.

“I think everybody downtown parking, especially with the convention center being right there and the Folly being right there it would just open up more space for everyone to park,” said Freeman.

The Barney Allis Auditorium Plaza Garage will close on April 15.

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