Kansas Citians,

The Country Club Plaza will lose a tremendous amount of its character if the law firm Polsinelli Shughart succeeds in its plan to bulldoze exisitng structures, in order to erect a bland 8 story headquarters for itself at 47th and Broadway. While the plan might be an insidious tactic to get a good deal on the West Edge, perhaps Polsinelli really is this foolish.

5 Reasons why Polsinelli should consider alternatives for its headquarters:

1. Save precious remaining history - The plan calls for tearing down a historic structure. The "Balcony Building" at 47th and Broadway is one of the original buildings developed by J.C. Nichols in the 1920's. In a city that has already bulldozed nearly all of its historic structures, we must fight to preserve what little remains. The quality of design and craftsmanship of the early twentieth century simply can not be matched by today's bottom line driven development.

2. Reduce senseless waste - In an era marked by dwindling resources and a growing need to maximize use of existing building stock, the Polsinelli plan wants to demolish 4,000 square feet of existing retail space, and nearly 100 units of residential apartments. The Neptune Apartment complex was built within the last two decades, and has many decades more in its life cycle.

3. There's a solution down the street - The stalled West Edge development is 3 blocks away from the proposed site. At 210,000 square feet, it is nearly identical to the 192,000 square foot size of the Polsenelli proposal.

4. It's an aesthetic mismatch - The proposed building is like most any commerical structure of its size built after 1950: dull, boxy, and featureless. It looks more at home in Corporate Woods than it does among the Spanish-inspired architecture of the Plaza.

5. It's completely out of scale - The Plaza is special in its urban form, as its CENTER consists primarily of two and three story structures designed with human scale in mind. The perimeter of the Plaza consists mostly of mid-rise structures, creating a very special urban form - a "bowl" effect that invites people into the middle of the plaza and surrounds visitors with structures on all sides. The Polsinelli proposal is eight stories, where there should be three stories at most. It will destroy the "bowl" effect, and will cast shadows on an otherwise well-lit portion of the Plaza. It's not fair to compare the proposed height with other tall buildings found along the edges of the Plaza for this reason.

Help prevent a thoughtless blow to our city's beloved Plaza - sign this petition and pass it along to anyone you know who also cares about Kansas City. Your voice will go to top management at Polsinelli.