Open letter to Downtown Council members, stakeholders

The health, safety and well-being of the people and businesses of Downtown Kansas City is our paramount concern at this time. We support the City’s call to take the necessary and responsible steps to protect the people of our city and region.

We are continually monitoring recommendations and updates on COVID-19  nationally from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and locally from the City of Kansas City and the City’s Health Department, and will inform our members and stakeholders of any status changes, when appropriate.

The most recent came Monday evening when Mayor Quinton Lucas expanded his original emergency declaration (last Thursday) to disallow any gathering or events with more than 10 attendees and to place restrictions on restaurants and taverns.

Effective at 12:01 a.m. today, KCMO restaurants are barred from serving dine-in patrons, but will be allowed to fulfill delivery, carryout and drive-thru service. Click here to read the latest announcements.

The primary objective is to take appropriate personal steps to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure our entire community remains healthy.

Beginning this week, the DTC has elected to take the following steps:

• All staff to work from home.
• Adopt social distancing solutions for Downtown Council activities
• Cancel or reschedule committee meetings with attendance of 20 or more during the 21-day period, including the March 26 Executive Committee meeting.
• Additional meetings and programs are subject to cancellation, rescheduling or moving to conference calls.
• Events and activities after April 3 will proceed on schedule until further notice

We will continue to update our members and partners with the most up-to-date information, as we remain flexible and prepared with contingency plans. 

The Downtown Council is committed to creating a vibrant, diverse, and economically sustainable model downtown for the 21st Century. Today, more than ever, we value the commitment of our stakeholders, our partners, our neighbors and our visitors.

We are in this together, and there is just no where else we’d rather be.

Sincerely,

Bill Dietrich

President & CEO