50 floor medallions will be saved from KCI’s old terminals. The rest will be destroyed

Municipal arts commissioners have identified 50 mosaic medallions to salvage from the floors of the old Kansas City International Airport terminals B & C before their demolition later this year.

The medallions depict a wide variety of imagery, from celestial symbols to Kansas City landmarks and images related to the indigenous peoples of the metro area. Readers have told The Star about the cultural and personal significance of many medallions, with some even offering to pay the $1,000 cost of removal for a chance to purchase their favorite pieces.

40 medallions from the old Terminal A were removed during the construction of the new airport, and are currently embedded in the new terminal’s floors. But the fate of the pieces in the old Terminals B & C had yet to be decided — until Friday.

The group of medallions to be saved includes 39 recommended by Mark Spencer, the arts program coordinator for the city’s aviation department, and 11 more chosen Friday morning by arts commissioners Carlota Halpern, Héctor Casanova, Jen Macias DeMeyer and David Wayne Reed.

Commissioners chose the additional 11 medallions based on which ones multiple commissioners independently selected to be saved. Seven medallions received three votes each, and four more were added to the total because of their imagery related to indigenous communities in the area.

The group also chose four “alternate” medallions, each of which got votes from two commissioners, in case any of the main 50 are damaged during the removal process.

Here are the medallions the commissioners decided to save. The four backup medallions are listed at the bottom of the graphic below.

What will happen to these medallions?

For now, the medallions being saved will be put into secure storage until their destination can be determined. Airport officials previously told The Star that they would be relocated into city-owned buildings around Kansas City.

Spencer told commissioners that while the cost to remove a medallion from the old terminal floors is around $1,000 apiece, the cost to reinstall one into the floor of another building is around $3,000.

That money has to come from the construction budget of their new destination — the aviation department can’t fund their installation into other buildings.

“There’s two city-owned buildings that are currently indicating some interest,” Spencer said. “I can’t say which ones yet… but there’s definitely interest from two city organizations.”

There are a few other places the medallions could end up aside from city-owned buildings. Spencer added that the Kansas City Museum is interested in displaying some of them in a temporary exhibit, but doesn’t plan to keep them long-term.

He also noted that some of the medallions could be installed in a future expansion to the new airport terminal, although this construction wouldn’t take place for at least another ten years.

Will any of the medallions be available for the public to purchase?

We’ve heard from readers interested in purchasing a piece of airport history in the form of a KCI medallion. But officials said that none of the medallions will go up for sale — whether or not they made the list to be saved.

“The public art belongs to the city and it is not for sale,” said arts commissioner Reed.

“The logistics of identifying and putting any of them up for public auction would just be too cumbersome,” added commissioner Casanova.

What will happen to the medallions that aren’t saved?

Commissioner Reed confirmed to The Star Friday that the remaining medallions that won’t be saved will be destroyed when the old terminals are demolished later this year.

The sub-committee in charge of analyzing the medallions voted on this outcome in a previous meeting attended by Andrew Ginzel, one of the artists who designed the medallions for his 2004 piece “Polarities” alongside artist Kristen Jones.

“We were very grateful that he was there because it was through his guidance that we all voted to basically allow the ones that are not salvaged to be destroyed, as he identified them as not being individual artworks on their own,” Casanova said.

“We all acknowledge that it is unfortunate any of them will be destroyed.”

DeMeyer added that every piece will be photographed before the terminals are demolished. Ginzel, the artist, did not reply to The Star’s request for comment Friday.

Do you have more questions about public art installations in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.