KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Kansas City Symphony has unveiled plans to develop a new live music venue in the city’s South Plaza district. The indoor venue, designed for audiences of up to 4,600 guests and targeted to open in 2028, will host touring artists across genres and support a limited number of Symphony performances that benefit from amplified or enhanced production formats. The project will also be designed to support the live performance of films with orchestra, which regularly rank among the Symphony’s most in-demand offerings. Populous and McCownGordon are the project’s design and construction build teams, respectively. The development at 4901 Main St. will be walkable to the Country Club Plaza.
While Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center will remain the definitive orchestral home of the Symphony, the new venue will expand its reach. Managed by Music and Event Management Inc. (MEMI), the property will host over 100 annual events. The Symphony will wholly own the new venue and will contract with MEMI to operate it. MEMI, a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, has measured a growing demand from artists and audiences for 4,000 to 6,000-seat venues that hit a “sweet spot” between intimate experience and major scale.