An iconic theater is a step closer to improvements and adding a sales tax.
In a unanimous vote, Kansas City's planning committee recommended the city council to vote to make the Uptown theater a community improvement district.
"We didn't have those options a few years ago, now we do," Larry Sells, owner of the Uptown Theater owner told the committee Wednesday.
41 Action News spoke with Sells before the meeting.
"We've brought in tons of events into Kansas City, Missouri that would have never been here except for that magnificent theater right across the street," Sells said.
He hopes to replicate the success across the street at the Uptown Shoppes, known as the Valentine shopping center.
"There are two national companies, we've got three local ones," Sells said.
One of those is Mesob restaurant. Its Ethiopian and Caribbean cuisine brings a unique flavor to the area.
Chef and co-owner Cherven Desauguste opened up five months ago.
He moved from Independence Avenue in the hopes of taking his business to the next level.
It's the same thing Sells wants to achieve by proposing a community improvement district (CID), that would charge a one percent sales tax at the Uptown theater, Hamburger Mary's and the Uptown Shoppes.
"That's one percent that everyone I’ve talked to that has no problem paying when it means security, clean up and parking access," Sells said.
If the city council approves the proposal, the Uptown CID would join the Broadway CID, which includes surrounding businesses.
"For any business it's a great idea for improvements," Desauguste said.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com
