Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District gets a new media tech museum ahead of the World Cup

KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers downtown Kansas City, Missouri. He also focuses on stories of consumer interest. Share your story idea with Grant.

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Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District has a new attraction opening ahead of one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District gets a new media tech museum ahead of the World Cup

The Media Tech Museum opened Monday, bringing more than 1,000 rare and historic media devices – some dating back to the 1860s – to the heart of downtown.

Owner Jon Trozzolo said the timing was no accident.

“To open this museum was strategic, by design. We’ve been planning on this, we’ve been budgeting for it, and working diligently, 10, 12, 14, hours a day for the last six months to be open before the World Cup, but also to be open before summer,” Trozzolo said.

The museum is located just a block from a KC Streetcar stop and surrounded by hotels and the convention center – a location Trozzolo carefully chose for maximum visibility and foot traffic. It opened just days before FIFA World Cup fans arrive in the city.

“This museum is going to benefit tremendously from the World Cup and the huge audience and the huge traffic that it’s going to generate. However, that’s only temporary,” Trozzolo said.

Trozzolo walked through some of the collection, which spans the history of how media technology has shaped everyday life.

“A lot of these devices tell a story. My grandfather used to listen to the Royals game on that radio. My grandma used to use that kind of crank phone when she was in a rural area,” Trozzolo said.

The museum traces the arc of electronic communication across generations.

“How we communicate electronically from the telegraph to the telephone to the phonograph to the radio, the wireless radio, the CB radio … the list goes on and on and on that directly affect our personal life as well as our professional life,” Trozzolo said.

Trozzolo said the museum fills a gap in the city’s cultural landscape.

“I wanted to do this because there’s nothing like this in Kansas City,” Trozzolo said.

He hopes the museum will become more than a temporary stop for World Cup tourists – aiming to make it a year-round destination for students, visitors, and anyone curious about how media technology has transformed the way we connect.

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