This bit of news is a great parallel to the announcement earlier (“Two powerhouses of science education in Kansas City will join forces”) that Union Station‘s “Science City” museum is merging with the much older KC institution, Science Pioneers — perhaps best known as the people behind the Greater KC Science & Engineering Fair. Parallel because the contemporary Union Station facility was given its new lease-on-life at the turn of the 21st Century on the shoulders of the Kansas City Museum, whose two traditional focus areas had been KC-area history on the one hand, and science on the other.

For whatever reasons, the relationship between the Kansas City Museum and the revived station never jelled, despite the station (itself vital to KC history) beginning this phase in its history desperate to contain something, and the museum for some time prior being in desperate need of a place to put its collection. But if the split between those two allows each to sharpen its focus and thrive, I’m delighted.

Consultants for the Kansas City Museum are putting the finishing touches on strategic and business plans to set the stage for construction on new exhibit and event spaces in the mansion on Gladstone Boulevard.

Source: Kansas City Museum is laying out a roadmap for mansion renovation | The Kansas City Star