Sep. 18--Let the renovations begin.

It has been almost 3 1/2 years since the Kansas City Ballet decided on the Union Station Power House as the site of its new Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity. Now the organization is ready to start transforming the dilapidated historic structure, at 400 W. Pershing Road, into an airy work and performance space.

When the $31 million renovation is completed in July 2011, "it will be one of the best dance buildings in the country," said Jeffrey J. Bentley, the Ballet's executive director.

"This will say a lot about the city's place in the arts," Bentley said.

The Ballet's announcement that construction was under way amounts to an upbeat signal in the current period of economic caution and a strong statement of the company's intention to raise its profile. Just in recent days, the Ballet and the building's owner, DST Realty, pinned down financing for the project, including about $11 million in state and federal historic tax credits. The Ballet has signed a 65-year lease for the building.

The 22-month construction schedule will bring the project to fruition about the same time as the $405 million Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts gets ready to open about four blocks north. The Ballet will be a major performing tenant in that project but will house all its other activities in the new Bolender Center.

After years of searching and considering several other sites, including a block adjacent to the Kauffman Center, in April 2006 the Ballet settled on the old Power House as the place to create its new home.

The 60,000-square-foot brick building, north of Pershing and just east of the Broadway viaduct, will feature seven rehearsal studios, up from four at its current location at 1616 Broadway. A main studio will double as a 180-seat theater for informal performances and for programs put on by other arts groups.

The improvements will enable the ballet to nearly double its present enrollment of 600 students and to serve as a community resource. The school will offer an expanded menu of pilates, salsa, ballroom and other dance classes for the community, and will also make space available to small dance companies and groups.

In addition to practice and rehearsal space, the new Bolender Center will feature a full dressing area and, for the first time, showers for the company. It will also house offices, an expanded costume shop, an archive and a physical therapy area. There will be more than 180 free parking spaces adjacent to the building.