KCFreePress.com

About a month from now, the bar partially housed in Kansas City’s oldest standing building will unveil a very 2010 update.

Construction crews are in the process of finishing off a 45 foot long rooftop deck on the north side of Kelly’s Westport Inn, making it the latest purveyor of Westport nightlife to invest in facility improvements as competition for local entertainment dollars rises. Since 2008, the owners of The Beaumont Club, McCoy’s Public House, and The Dark Horse Tavern have all either made extensive renovations to their bars or opened up additional businesses near their original properties.

Kyle Kelly, who owns Kelly’s with his brother Pat, said his family decided to invest in the deck as a way to keep their business viable in its current location — a decision that wasn’t easy for an establishment that gets so much of its identity from tradition.

“One of the things that people have always liked about us is that we are a traditional bar — they like that when they come back, things haven’t changed,” Kelly said. “We’re committed to staying where we are. But the market has shifted, and you’ve got to find a way to respond. Once you get over that ‘poor me’ part of things, you just accept the challenges and figure out how to make it work.”

Kelly said that while a couple of the bar’s oldest regulars had reservations about the addition of the deck — “They were asking, ‘Kyle, is the building going to be okay?’” — they have since come around on the idea, and that the vast majority of his patrons have been excited about the addition. The deck will feature a full bar and food service.

The renovations come on the heels of a period in which a combination of factors — the 2008 smoking ban, a deepening recession, and a rapidly expanding entertainment market — have challenged businesses operating in the city’s oldest entertainment district.

According to Jon Engelman, the executive director of the Westport Regional Business League, in 2009 average revenues across the district — including the non-nightlife-oriented establishments — were down at least 10 percent from highs in 2007, and that the figures for bars and restaurants were generally lower. Since bottoming out in mid-2009, though, revenues have been increasing steadily.

“To get people coming back, you have to be consistent and fresh,” Engelman said. “That’s what makes that business model work. I think [Westport bar owners] see increased competition as a challenge, and it definitely pushes them to rise to the challenge. I’ve watched everybody get better at what they already do well. They’ve honed their game a little bit.”

And while the increased competition from places like the Power and Light District, The Legends, Brookside and Waldo may have decreased overall traffic to Westport, for some the change hasn’t been unwelcome.

Photo Gallery

Kelly's Westport Inn upstairs patio

Brodie Rush, who runs karaoke nights and DJs at bars throughout the area, said that since the opening of Power and Light in fall of 2007, he’s noticed a more relaxed atmosphere when he’s worked in Westport.

“It definitely seems like its drawing more of a local midtown crowd,” Rush said. “For me, at least, I feel like it’s got more of my kind of people and I like going there more. I don’t know what that means for business owners, but it’s more of my kind of scene.”

For Engelman, the changes are just another part of Westport’s storied history.

“Westport is the oldest marketplace in the Kansas City area, and if you look at it over time, the growth and evolution of the area is really fascinating,” Engelman said. “It continues to be both a trendsetter and a reflection of the community. I think you see that when you come out here.”

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