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Missouri Senate Approves State Funding For UMKC Conservatory's Downtown Arts Campus

University of Missouri-Kansas City
A rendering of the dance space at the proposed UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance's Downtown Arts Campus.

The Missouri Senate has voted to approve $48 million in funding for a new downtown campus for the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance.

The $96 million project, which would relocate the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Danceto the block immediately south of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, is seeking $48 million in state bond funding to match private and city contributions already lined up.

The Missouri House approved funding in March. On Thursday, senators voted 28-4 in favor of issuing the bonds.

Final approval will require a signature by Missouri Gov. Eric Grietens, whose spokesman did not immediately reply to KCUR's questions about whether the governor supports the project.

If Grietens signs off, the campus would likely not be completed for three years, Bob Simmons, associate vice chancellor for facilities at UMKC, told KCUR in March.

C.J. Janovy is an arts reporter for KCUR 89.3. You can find her on Twitter, @cjjanovy.

A free press is among our country’s founding principles and most precious resources. As director of content-journalism at KCUR, I want everyone in our part of America to know we see them and we’re listening. I work to make sure the stories we tell and the conversations we convene reflect our complex realities, informing and inspiring all of us to meet the profound challenges of our time. Email me at cj@kcur.org.
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