I'm having lunch there tomorrow. So stay tuned for a full report.
But for, now, my Googling found doom foretold in a Star article published last year.
One well-known business that would be relocated should the development plan move forward is Lil' Jake's Eat It and Beat It, a popular 18-seat barbecue restaurant at 1227 Grand Blvd. [Jon] Copaken said there had been discussions with Danny Edwards, the owner, to try to find a suitable new downtown location.
"I love going to Lil' Jake's as well," Copaken said. "He is an institution downtown, and we want to find a way to satisfy him."
Suitable location?!
That's the reporter's words.
SUITABLE LOCATION?!?!
Seems to me Mr. Edwards already had a damn suitable location, one he snagged fair and square years before a bald developer with more money and more connections decided he wanted it for himself. But, of course, Kevin Collison is Copaken's unofficial stenographer. So to him, it seems, the word choice "suitable" is even-handed and accurate.
So now Mr. Edwards is -- indeed, we all are -- going to lose this venerable beacon of Kansas City culture to eminent domain. As if it's in the public's best interest to have a downtown "institution" swatted away so -- what? -- so a rich person can get richer, I suppose (but no less bald).
Seriously. I'm at a loss here. It's not like the joint is being demolished so we can have a highway we all need, or a light rail line. It's being shut down because someone with extreme privilege has decided they want it. And our ever compliant government shall make it so.
We're still living in America, right?
To think the liberals on the Supreme Court supported this crap.
You'd think we live in Zimbabwe or something. Like Robert Mugabe is running downtown.
4 comments:
Isn't this old news? Have they found him a new location? I had heard once upon a time that inside the Sprint Center was a possibility. I guess maybe that was a diversion? I'll miss Eat It and Beat It!
Oklahoma Joes > Jakes imo.
it makes me sickish.
what's the point of the "american dream" (as yapped about by certain city council people yesterday in defense of letting business owners keep their places full of tobacco smoke if they so choose) of "owning a house and owning your own business" if it really doesn't matter.
big money always wins.
moral of story, become big money or be willing to drop out at any moment.
why can't they build around him like they do in other situations?
bleh.
i never ate there and i never will, but i loathe to lose kitchy REAL places that will die because of sterile and corporate "entertainment districts."
More details at
kansascity.bizjournals.com
Condemnation is still a few weeks away, but the developer can negotiate with the full power of the court system behind him while making offers on the property.
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