- Where is the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity located?
- So you aren’t going to be in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts?
- Why did the Kansas City Ballet need another location with more studios?
- What about parking and security ?
- What is the goal of the Ballet’s Capital Campaign?
- Why do they call it a Texas Skylight?
- Who are the leaders of the capital campaign?
- Can anyone make a gift to the campaign?
- How do I make a gift to the campaign?
- What recognition will I receive?
- How is the Kansas City Ballet governed and managed?
- What is the time frame of the campaign?
Where is the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity located?
Kansas City Ballet’s Bolender Center is located at 500 W. Pershing Road, West Yards. You may remember it as the former Power House Building for Union Station and the Liberty Memorial. What we know you will appreciate is its convenience to Crown Center, Union Station, Downtown and I-35.
So you aren’t going to be in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts?
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will be our new stage and the Bolender Center will be our new home.
Why did the Kansas City Ballet need another location with more studios?
Currently, the Kansas City Ballet School is at its capacity in our four studios. In order to provide the highest quality dance training, KCBS needs to maintain an appropriate student/teacher ratio. In order to expand the pre-professional program and create a program with the recreational dance student in mind, the School needs more studios. KCBS also plans to expand its adult programs. This way, parents can take an exercise class while their students are in ballet class. We will also be able to better serve the needs of the growing residential population in the Crossroads District.
What about parking and security?
One of the most anticipated improvements for the Bolender Center is the 180 space parking lot adjacent to the building for patrons, dancers, parents, guests and staff. Parents will be able to drop off and pick up their children right in front of our doors, and being in such close proximity to the National Archives and IRS building, ours will be one of the safest in Kansas City.
What is the goal of the Ballet’s Capital Campaign?
The total Campaign goal is to raise $39 million ($32 million for construction of the building and $7 million for an endowment to ensure its upkeep).
Why do they call it a Texas Skylight?
We haven’t been able to find official documentation about a Texas Skylight, but what we’ve been able to surmise is that when Jarvis Hunt was designing Union Station and the Powerhouse Building in 1914 he used a common design tool of the day called a Texas Skylight. In order to obtain the benefits of a Skylight in the direct sunlight of the mid-west architects would raise the roof and insert windows that could be opened to release heat, but would also allow natural sunlight to come in.
Who are the leaders of the capital campaign?
The current co-chairs are Julia I. Kauffman, John D. Hunkeler, MD and G. Mark Sappington.
Can anyone make a gift to the campaign?
Yes. Anyone can make a gift to the campaign, and in fact your support now means more than ever. We have recently been awarded a challenge grant from the prestigious national Kresge Foundation for $900,000. If Kansas City Ballet raises $3 million of our total remaining $5.5 campaign goal by June 2011, the Kresge grant will be secured.
How do I make a gift to the campaign?
The campaign welcomes gifts of cash, stock, real estate or other forms of wealth. Estate and other deferred gifts, while important, can only be counted towards the endowment portion of the campaign. Though money is needed now for construction needs, the Ballet expects that donors making substantial commitments will want to make their gifts over a period of several years. Gifts for construction should be made to the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity Fund at the Greater Kansas City Foundation. Gifts to the endowment should be made to the Kansas City Ballet.
What recognition will I receive?
All donors will be recognized in a permanent donor book at the Bolender Center. Donors making a gift of $1,000 or more will be recognized in each Kansas City Ballet performance program until 2013. All donors at the $10,000 and above level will be recognized by having their names, or the names of persons whom they wish to honor, placed on a designated wall in the Bolender Center.
How is the Kansas City Ballet governed and managed?
Kansas City Ballet is a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization. The board of directors establishes policy, assures that adequate financial resources are available and appoints the Artistic and Executive Directors. The directors in turn select the dancers and key staff members, as appropriate, who carry out the Ballet’s mission.
What is the time frame of the campaign?
The construction phase of the campaign will be completed no later than June 30, 2011 and the endowment phase of the campaign will be completed by June, 2012.
