Carlsen Center

Ground was broken in 1988 on a field at the edge of the Johnson County Community College campus, and in 1990 the building opened as the college's cultural education centre — a two-year college giving itself a full-scale performing arts complex, which was not the usual order of things. Yardley Hall, its main auditorium, seats around 1,400 and was described at its opening as the most fully modern performance space in the region; a refit in 2016 brought new seating, new technical capability and a Steinway concert grand. The complex now carries the name Midwest Trust Center, and remains the busiest presenting house on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area.