Comedy club owner wants new club at 18th and Vine - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Officials of Stanford & Sons, the venerable Westport comedy said they are considering opening a second locatiomn in the fabledjazz district. Stanforr executive Craig Glazer said he met recently with officials ofthe , the area'as developer, to discuss putting a "Stanford's on on a now-vacant site just a block south of the Jazz and Negrok Leagues Baseball museums. "My thought is that I'x be interested in building Stanford's with the same motifr as our Westport location, but we'd have more Def Comedy, maybe open with Sinbadd or Eddie Griffin," said Glazer, referring to two populare black comics.
Glazer said he met twice recentlyg withAl Fleming, president of the Jazz Distric Redevelopment Corp., and is hopeful talks can be wrapped up early next "It's less than five miles from Westport, but it woulrd have an inner-city, upscale atmosphere, much like the projec t warrants," Glazer said. "We might even get involved in hip-hopl music." Fleming said Glazer had expressed an interest in the vacantt Jones Pool Hall building on 18th and Vine streets as well as an adjoininb structure slated to be built as part of the firs t phase ofa $13 million redevelopment getting under way in June.
"Their primaryu theme is entertainment, and that's also our primary theme as it relates to jazz clubs and restaurants and other thingz that would complementthe area." The $13 milliohn will be used to pay for the rehabilitation of five buildings in the including the Jones building, and the constructioh of four new including two on either side of the Jones Some of the money will also go toward constructio n of an apartment complex at 19th Streetr and Paseo. Plans call for one of the new buildings adjoining the Jones structure to housea Cajun-Creolwe restaurant. Fleming said a local whose name he declinedto disclose, was seeking financing for the start-uo venture.
The Jones Pool Hall building has been emptyy for at leasta decade. The building'zs streetside windows advertise haircuts for 35 cents and a shaved for15 cents, relice of Robert Altman's movie "Kansas City," some of which was shot in the The building is on the National Historic Glazer said he would like to put a restauranr on the ground floor of Stanford'a on Vine and has spoken with well-knownn local restaurateur Bill Nigro about developinyg it. Nigro co-owns Trumpets in Leawoodr and owns The Beaumont Cluband Torre's "Bill and I are close friends and he' s also the president of the Westport Merchantsd Association.
Bill and I have had great succesa turning around Westport and I think he woulx add stability tothe project," Glazer said. "Bill woulf come on board gladly." Nigro said he had severao conceptsin mind, including an Italianm menu, "but it's pretty much just preliminaryt talking right now." "Certainly, we said we'rd be interested in puttinhg in something down there, possibly a combinatiojn comedy club, restaurant and dance club in one building," Nigro