See how art for Barney Allis Plaza will evoke ‘spirit’ of 1899 Convention Hall
For nearly 30 minutes Friday, members of Kansas City’s Municipal Art Commission sat practically entraced by what they were seeing.
As soon as Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, an artist duo from Belgium — who, as part of the commission meeting, were chosen to receive $2.18 million to bring public art to the new Barney Allis Plaza — were done with their presentation, the commissioners began to gush.
New art for Barney Allis Plaza
“This is stunning,” Commissioner Kathleen McCarthy said. “I’m almost speechless.”
“I love everything about this,” Commissioner Matt Wegerer said. “I’ve lived in KC for 25 years, worked and lived five minutes from the site. . . .having a piece of artwork that’s that well thought-out, well-crafted and inspirationally designed. . .I couldn’t love it more. It’s not what I was expecting, but it’s also exactly what I was hoping for.”
“I echo so much of what was stated,” said Commissioner Stephanie Smith. “It’s really beautiful.”
The project that artist duo presented via video — under the company name Gijs Van Vaerenbergh from Leuven, Belgium — is essentially a ghostly sculptural ode to Kansas City’s past, but rising on the periphery of a modern park and plaza, now under construction downtown and slated to be completed by the end of 2026.
Spirit of 1899 KC Convention Hall
The piece, Gijs told the commission, is titled “Kansas City Spirit, Memory and Resilience.” The artists said they drew their inspiration from the classic Beaux-Arts architecture of the Convention Hall that once stood where Barney Allis was later built, between 12th and 13th streets, Central and Wyandotte streets.
Open in February 1899, the Convention Hall was demolished by fire one year later in March 1900, leaving only partial walls, arches and columns. But within 90 days, the hall was rebuilt in time that July to host the Democratic National Convention.
“This achievement came to be a symbol of what is called Kansas City spirit,” Gijs said, “which is a kind of mindset defined by resilience, civic pride and collective action. Not accepting defeat, but rallying together to overcome. We found this quite an inspiring story.”
Sculpture evokes the nature of memory
In a series of slides, Gijs and Van Vaerenbergh, showed how they used the two-story, arched facade of the convention hall as their template. Their plan, using thin, steel rods that will be illuminated at night, will be to create six architectural and ghostly line-graph “fragments” of the facade and place one each at the four corners of the park and one each along Central Street and Wyandotte Street.
The sense will be to create a modern park surrounded by the spirit of the past.
“The fragments,” Van Vaerenbergh said, “has to do with the idea of creating a memory that is partly there — present, but also partly absent, which is the true nature of a memory. It is sometimes present, and sometimes not.”
The approach is one that the duo has used in other projects, including Clausura, a ghost-like outline of a late 12th century abbey in Herkenrode, Belgium.
“The idea of this work is that it also is a memory,” Van Vaerenbergh said, “and redraws the architectural elements in space.”
Maybe climbing plants or elevated viewing for visitors
Not all the details of the Kansas City sculpture have been finalized. The artists and commission on Friday discussed the possibility, if desired, for the structures to be used as a trellis for vines, flowers and climbing plants. Also discussed is the possiblity of building the sculpture in a way tha allows vistors to ascend into to access walkways built between the first and second stories.
“Background is also important,” Van Vaerenbergh said, “for Barney Allis Plaza, as well as for the surrounding buildings. They will always be visible through the installation.”
The old Convention Hall was finally razed in 1936 to make way for a parking garage for Municial Auditorium. Barney Allis Plaza was created in 1955.
The new Barney Allis Plaza is a $118 million project. It includes a 4-acre park with a planned pavillion cafe, a dog park, play area and an area for concerts and other events. The plaza is to sit above an underground parking garage for just fewer than 600 cars. The parking structure is replacing the former 900-car garage, which had fallen into crumbling disrepair.
The project, desgined by HOK of Kansas City, is being constructed by general contractor McCown Gordon Kansas City. The $2.18 million allocated is the largest investment the city has made in public art for a single project, second only to $5.65 million allocated for the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, which opened in February 2023.
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 2:25 PM.
