Expo '92 is a special welcome mat to the heart of America - participation of Kansas City, Missouri in Expo '92 - Focus: Expo '92: The Age of Discoveries - Cover Story

Business America, July 15, 1991 by David L. Edgell, Sr., Robert MacGregor, Jody Edgerton

Kansas City, Missouri, is like a bottle of vintage champagne just waiting to be uncorked. And Kansas City's participation in Expo '92 is just the event to release that cork and to let the world know about this beautiful and progressive city. Expo 92 will be the biggest, most broadly representative world's fair of all time, and Kansas City will be the only U.S. city with its own display at the U.S. Pavilion. This attractive city, which represents "authentic Americana," has been America's best kept secret. Expo 92 will provide Kansas City with a rich opportunity to showcase its very European character, with Spanish architecture, Roman fountains, and broad boulevards that could be in Paris. its special relationship with Seville, Spain, and its entry into the global marketplace of trade, investment, tourism, and culture through participation in Expo 92, is an important story that needs to be told.

For centuries, Seville, Spain remained the Spanish city known for Christopher Columbus' departure port, as well as for Don Juan and the Barber of Seville. Then, in 1922, a man by the name of Jesse Clyde Nichols gave Seville something more-a sister. After many trips to Europe, Nichols brought a bit of Seville back to the Kansas City area. There he built a social gathering place called the Country Club Plaza. It has shops, restaurants, statues, fountains, and a special friendly ambience. This architectural masterpiece made history as the world's first mall. It was completely fashioned after Sevillian/ Moorish architecture. With its red tile roofs, ceramic, stucco, and brick walls, the Country Club Plaza imparts such a precise image of Seville, that Nichols, and thenMayor Davis of Kansas City, decided to form a sisterhood alliance with Seville. Thus the Kansas City-Seville sister city relationship was born. Expo 92 also recreates opportunities to nurture and sustain the special friendship existing between Kansas City and Seville while simultaneously adding to the economic development of America's Heartland.

In 1992 Seville, Spain will be hosting the Universal Exposition, "The Age of Discoveries," from April 20 to Oct. 12. More than 100 nations will have pavilions in Seville presenting their historic, current, and future innovations. The U.S. Pavilion, one of the largest, will have a 750-seat movie theater and a performing arts stage, and provide opportunities for exhibits from the country's many states, all supporting its theme of "Discovery." For Kansas City, as a special part of the U.S. Pavilion, Expo 92 will bring new international attention to America's Heartland and create an invaluable network of contacts for future cooperation. This recognition will heighten the awareness of visitors to the Fair about the Heartland so that this region will be perceived as a viable market for trade, tourism, and investment.

In addition to its exhibit in Seville, Kansas City will be holding its own promotion at home called "Discover Kansas City. " This festival will run concurrently with the exposition in Spain. In both Seville and Kansas City it will be hard for tourists not to notice their sibling connection. At the Seville Expo, 40 million visitors will walk down the main road named "Avenida de Kansas City." An estimated 10 million of them will see the Kansas City exhibit in the U.S. Pavillon. Both festivals promise to be filled with exciting events promoting business and tourism in Kansas City. After the Seville Exposition is over in October, the Kansas City Exhibit in the U.S. Pavilion will be brought back to Kansas City and placed in a centrally located area as a permanent tourist information center.

Coastal cities such as Los Angeles and New York have long been global business centers, and Kansas City is ready to become their midwest partner. By presenting its attractive cultural and commercial qualities at the exposition, Kansas City hopes to strengthen existing relationships with foreign nations while enticing other countries to have ties with Kansas City.

Through Expo 92, Kansas City can demonstrate to the world its economic, political, and social stability and offer a comfortable midwestern style to draw tourists and business persons to the Heartland. Kansas City has the charm of Europe because of its magnificent plazas, parks, and fountains, yet maintains its true American feeling. Kansas City offers a variety of exciting cultural experiences: from its famous jazz, to its magnificent zoo; from its world-class sporting events, to its architecture; and from its exciting festivals to its excellent educational institutions. In addition, products and services in Kansas City are very inexpensive for international tourists because of the deflated U.S. dollar, making shopping and staying in hotels a real value. The Kansas City airport is also being renovated in order to provide quality service as a major airline hub.

Products donated for the Kansas City exhibit will help increase business between the United States and Spain, thus bringing the two countries closer together. When conducting business the United States and Spain will be trading products, services, currency, and in turn cause better government relations. Supporters can receive future business prospects from the publicity of their product or service in the expositions both nationally and internationally. Business that companies gain can be handled in Kansas City, a centrally located, easily accessible, economically reasonable, and exciting city, rather than in the more traditional locations. Investors will receive a number of benefits, including use of the Sprint Video Teleconferencing Center, which features a state-of-the-art conferencing system. Companies will be invited to join celebrities and dignitaries at a number of events such as the opening and closing day celebrations, National Day, and the Fourth of July celebration. Supporters may also have use of the Commissioner General's lounge, sponsored by Coca-Cola, a quiet retreat well suited for entertaining special guests. Finally, companies that invest in the Kansas City exhibit will receive use of the U.S. Pavilion logo for certain advertisement and promotion of their product.