Two candidate forums planned

Two candidate forums are planned in February by the Historic Northeast Midtown Association.

Candidates for the Unified Government Commission, 4th District, were invited to a forum from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, at the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center, 1310 N. 10th St., Kansas City, Kan.

Candidates for the UG Commission, 1st District at large, have been invited to a candidate forum from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center, 1310 N. 10th St., Kansas City, Kan.

The forums are open to the public.

Temperatures to reach mid-50s today

A sunny day, with a high near 54, is ahead today, according to the National Weather Service.

A south wind of 6 to 11 mph also is today’s forecast. Tonight, expect a low of 33, with calm winds, the weather service said.

Wednesday, expect a colder day, as temperatures will fall about 25 degrees from the previous day’s high, to 29 degrees at 5 p.m., according to the weather service. The wind will be from 11 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Wednesday night’s low will be around 13, the weather service said, with winds of 11 to 18 mph, gusting to 28.

Thursday, it will be sunny with a high near 25, according to the weather service. The wind will be 13 to 18 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph.

Thursday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low of 19, the weather service said.

Friday, the high will be near 45, and Friday night, the low will be around 20, according to the weather service.

The weekend will be cooler than last weekend.

Saturday, Valentine’s Day, will reach a high of 28, with sunny skies, the weather service said. Saturday night, the low will be 10.

Sunday, expect a high of 34 with mostly sunny skies. Sunday night, the low will be 24, the weather service said.

The weather is a little warmer for Presidents Day, Monday, Feb. 16, when the high will be near 48, according to the weather service.

New hotel, next to casino, on tonight’s Planning Commission agenda

An architect's drawing showed preliminary plans for a hotel and ballroom next to the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. The preliminary plan review is on tonight's Planning Commission Agenda.
An architect’s drawing showed preliminary plans for a hotel and ballroom next to the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. The preliminary plan review is on tonight’s Planning Commission Agenda.

An architect's drawing showed the proposed location of a new hotel and ballroom, next to the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. A preliminary plan review is on tonight's Planning Commission agenda.
An architect’s drawing showed the proposed location of a new hotel and ballroom, next to the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. A preliminary plan review is on tonight’s Planning Commission agenda.

A new 248-room casino hotel is on tonight’s Planning Commission meeting agenda.

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kan.

Byron Toy, Unified Government planning staff member, said a preliminary plan review will be presented for the 143,180-square-foot hotel at the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, 777 Hollywood Casino Blvd.

According to plans, the new eight-story hotel will be built near the casino. It will include an 18,179-square-foot ballroom. It would have banquet space for 400 persons.

Toy said the new ballroom and hotel are southwest of the casino. The ballroom will be attached to the casino, with the hotel on the other side of the ballroom.

Kansas Entertainment, which includes the speedway and the casino, is building the hotel. Yaeger Architecture Inc., of Overland Park is the architect, according to agenda information.

Toy said a construction timeline has not yet been announced. If the preliminary plan design is approved tonight, it would go to the full UG Commission for approval on Feb. 26. Then the final plan design would come back through the planning and full commission process for approval at a later date.

The hotel would be in the Bonner Springs School District and in the Kansas City, Kan., city limits, according to agenda information.

The building materials will include glass, stucco, stone and tile, according to the agenda documents. Toy said there will be a lot of windows in the new development, and he would expect the new hotel and ballroom to be similar to the casino in its look, although some of the details are not yet final.