Presidential Boyhood Home gets Recognition

The boyhood home of Harry Truman in the photo above located at 619 S. Crysler was recognized this summer by officials from the City of Independence. Unfortunately, the officials were from the Health Department and the recognition was for problems with weeds and trash/rubbish/garbage in violation of Property Maintenance Codes. Truman spent his impressionable boyhood years from age 6 to age 12 at this home. From this family residence, he enters the Independence Public Schools, he attends First Presbyterian Church Sunday School where he meets Bess Wallace, and he recalls his father’s celebration after the 1892 election of Grover Cleveland. In this rare Democratic Party victory celebration, his father decorates the weathervane mounted on top of the cupola of the home (the cupola has since been removed), which undoubtedly left an impression on young Harry. Other Truman residences in the city and the state are National Historic Sites, State Parks, and/or are marked with interpretive signs. This one (on the other side of the railroad tracks and approxmiately 1/2 mile from the Truman NHL Distrct) is one city officials would prefer you drive by without noticing. At Truman’s birthplace home in Lamar, Missouri, he only spent 11 months there and today it is a State Historic Site and House Museum and represents a source of pride for this rural community. We do learn from the Crysler property how absentee landlords maximize rental income while minimizing investment. There are actually 7 mailboxes on this property. Independence has many stories to tell but with this property we get a bonus lesson plan in economics. Anywhere but Independence, this would be national shrine. Here it is considered just another local public nuisance.

Victorian Home Well Done

This evening is the 3-year anniversary of the fire 306 N. Pleasant Street in the heart of the Harry S. Truman National Historic Landmark District and within view of the Truman Home National Historic Site. The event was actually a non-event and received no coverage in the local media, even though it was considered to be a felony arson and actually came dangerously close to the home next door with human lives inside. “The Examiner” did print a few lines three days later on the inside pages of the newspaper. To put this news event in perspective, it was published next to a larger story about the local supper club hosting a singing group at the Community of Christ Auditorium. National historians back in 1971 thought this building was important enough to include in the original 22-page National Register form prepared for the district designation. Three of the 18 photographs in this document include images of this home. Two weeks after this fire, the community hosted Nobel Peace Prize recipient, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, for his farewell address to America at the Truman Library, only a few blocks down the street. It’s ironic that this part of the neighborhood looked like a war-zone while the Secretary-General was giving his speech on, yes, “World Peace.”

Happy Birthday National Trust

Our "Preservation" magazine arrived in our mailbox today from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). It was actually 60 years ago (October 26, 1949) today that President Harry S Truman signed the Congressional Charter that created the NTHP. I thought I would read in the magazine a few lines or possibly even an entire paragraph that that might present this important story of the beginning of this great organization. It was not there. You might drop them a card to their headquarters in Washington DC (in the adjacent photo) and wish them Happy Birthday. Harry Truman appreciated and understood the importance of history and respecting those who came before us. That's what historic preservation is all about. In the hometown of Truman and in his neighborhood, you would think historic preservation principles would be the strongest. Unfortunately, this doesn't appear to be the case. We have tremendous opportunities to turn things around but the entire community has to be on board. Wouldn't it be great to read in "Preservation" magazine stories of success concerning Independence, Missouri? I believe that is what the NTHP and the national preservation community wants, also.

Last Place in the Standings

The question has already been asked, “When Histories Compete, Who Wins?” Well, what else does local heritage tourism compete with? Look no further than the epicenter of competition where the Chiefs play football, the Royals play baseball, and, more recently, college football match-ups such as the “Border Showdown” with MU versus KU. It is called the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex, yes, named after our good neighbor. With the high concentration of people coming to this part of the KC Area, someone a few decades ago thought it was a brilliant idea to locate our Missouri Tourism Welcome Center at the Sports Complex property. Unfortunately traffic and architectural designs were not considered with this site selection. The photo above is a view of the Welcome Center from street level taken last winter. One can easily miss it while driving by. On games days, it is almost impossible to get to because of the traffic. For game days/events that are near sell-outs, they actually lock the doors and close the Welcome Center to avoid traffic problems (which goes against the reason for putting here). And even though Jackson County taxpayers are spending $600 million to update the Truman Sports Complex property, not one dime was considered necessary to improve the Tourism Welcome Center. Visitors who are successful in getting there are greeted by a concrete building with no apparent front entrance. When you find the front door, you are greeted with a sign that states “Please do not leave valuables unattended in your car” which may lead some to go back to their car and keep driving out of town. It should not be surprising that the KC Welcome Center is in last place in the standings for visitor head-counts considering all six centers throughout the state that were operating the entire year of 2008. Yes it’s true, the Chiefs and Royals are not the only last place teams located at the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex.

School District “Passes the Buck”

As we strive for a community that runs on all cylinders, one of the bright spots is our award-winning public school system. Harry Truman was the only US President since 1897 to have never earned a college degree, yet was voted in the top 5 greatest US Presidents by educated historians in a recent C-SPAN poll. I believe that makes his Independence High School diploma one of the most important educational achievements in the nation. From Truman’s Sunday School experience across the street at the First Presbyterian Church to his public school time at the old Palmer building site, these experiences shaped his character. And with the Memorial Building across the street where the Truman Family voted, this block is especially important to this great American story. This story is important to not just the current 300 million US citizens, but future generations of US citizens. But is this story important to local citizens? What about the Independence School District who was actually responsible for the education of Harry Truman? The School District’s recent announcement to sell the Palmer School Building (which is contaminated with mold) essentially “Passes the Buck” to future owners of the property for its environmental cleaning, which makes one wonder if they appreciate and respect this story (their story). The Independence School District deserves support in the upcoming bond issue election so they can support excellence in local education. The Truman Neighborhood, and in particular, the old Palmer School Building, deserves local support from the School District so it can continue to educate the nation on the value of public school excellence while maintaining the story of one of the great world leaders. What else should we expect from the hometown of Harry Truman who coined the phrase, “The Buck Stops Here?”

Walk the Walk

The above photos indicate sidewalk views here in Independence. The one on the left is of the 300 block of Delaware Street in the Truman National Historic Landmark District (across the street from the Truman Home where 20,000 tourist visit each year) and the one on the right is in the valley out east adjacent to, well, nothing. The sidewalk on Delaware has been part of the award-winning Midtown/Truman Road Corridor Neighborhood Revitalization program over the last 12 years that promised to improve infrastructure and make the area pedestrian friendly. The sidewalks in the Truman Neighborhood are important not only to neighbors and tourist but also to maintaining the story of this world leader who routinely took walks to provide himself a connection to and a perspective of his own community. As we look towards the East in the lush green valley of the Little Blue River (in the old floodplain), we should strive for sustainable development for a prosperous future of Independence. However, maintaining what we already have in the heart of our historic community (on higher ground) is even more critical to the future of Independence. If we’re going to “talk the talk” on neighborhood revitalization, tourism, and, sustainable development, then we need to “walk the walk.”

Higher Learning Regarding Higher Ground

The history of historic preservation in Independence is now the subject of a book available at Barnes & Noble, “A President, a Church, and Trails West - Competing Histories in Independence, Missouri” by Dr. Jon Taylor, University of Central Missouri History Professor. It was also the subject of a presentation and panel discussion at last year’s annual conference of the National Council on Public History (NCPH) in Louisville, Kentucky which included Dr. Taylor, Dr. Dwight Pitcaithley of New Mexico State University, Dr. Craig Campbell of Youngstown State University, and Dr. Patrick O’Brien of the National Parks Service, Tucson, Arizona (first Preservation Manager with the City of Independence). That presentation was entitled “When Histories Compete, Who Wins?: Zion, Three Trails, and a President: Competing Histories and Memories in Independence, Missouri.” The preservation story of our community and Truman’s neighborhood is becoming well-know and has become, itself, a landmark in the pages of our nation’s preservation history. It is likely that more people outside of Independence understand our problems and conflicts with historic preservation than those inside our community and at City Hall. During conversations with Park Service leaders in other states, the question routinely comes up, “What’s wrong with Independence?” These issues are not just about preservation but also affect the success of economic development through heritage tourism and just basic community pride. On the question of “Who Wins?”, it appears that there are many in town with “L’s” on their foreheads!

How much asphalt is enough?

Prudent Preservation, I knew you'd enjoy seeing your favorite parking lot all spruced up after its annual utilization for that festival of all festivals. Ah yes, the piquant smell of gently decaying garbage and a flurry of activity (including early morning trash trucks) all herald the end of Santa-Caligon with a another perfectly good Labor Day holiday shot all to hell. Thanks, Bank of America for allowing one little non-profit to tie up a less-than-attractive piece of real estate for the entire year. We neighbors enjoy the ambiance of asphalt, especially with weeds peeking through it.
And speaking of the festival of festivals, I think it's time to move it. I feel sorry for the McClain's businesses, especially this year since the tents were set up so early - they must've lost a lot of business in their restaurants.
Why do we have to experience the love every year? There's that new sales-tax supported events center in southern Independence near I-70. It would be some great exposure for the Missouri Mavericks. All those lovely handicrafts could be indoors - I think it's the perfect solution.

Boundary Fractious-Disorientation (BFD) – Historic Districts

It seems that the Truman Neighborhood has a case of BFD, Boundary Fractious-Disorientation. This disorder occurs when the historic district boundaries have been drawn and redrawn several times to minimize hostilities from local churches so that a community is really not sure what is considered historic, while the final historic district boundaries ends up only a fraction of what it was. The local Heritage District boundaries have been in 3 different configurations since 1974. The last reconfiguration in 1984 significantly reduced its size leaving it 1/3 of what it used to be. During a time while communities across the country were expanding their historic districts and creating new districts, our City Council, with co-sponsorship of the First Baptist Church (and no objection from the RLDS Church), choose to reduce our program, thus, attempting to rewrite history to make our community appear less important than it really is. They were successful. Current boundaries leave out approximately 1/5 of the Truman National Historic Landmark District. Yes, I failed to mention that there is another district, the nationally designated Truman National Historic Landmark District, whose boundaries have never changed, although there is a current proposal to expand those boundaries to cover additional residential areas and the Square. That proposal has been around for 9 years. Yes, it appears those representing the national interests here in town believe our community is more important than we do. The Midtown / Truman Road Corridor Neighborhood Revitalization project was in a position to clear things up, but their boundaries unfortunately fractured the National Historic Landmark District again leaving out approximately 1/2 of the district. They eventually expanded those boundaries but not after most of the public money was spent. There are even a few properties on Delaware Street where the front 1/2 of the lots are in both the local and the national districts while the back 1/2 of the lots are only in the national district. You don’t even have to leave your own back yard to experience BFD. I sure hope students in the public schools are learning their lessons in geometry & fractions. It will come in handy when future generations recognize these problems and decide they want it fixed. Will the neighborhood be the same when this eventually happens?

High Water of Biblical Proportions

Storm water gets so high in the west section of the First Baptist Church parking lot; full-immersion baptisms could be performed there. With the tall weeds growing up between the cracks and the high water, we now have a “wetlands” to add to this preservation district. But be careful, the native mosquito will end up being a protected species. I believe this is a first for our country’s portfolio of National Historic Landmarks. During the vehicle parking frenzy of Santa-Cali-Gon, someone needs to alert the water rescue folks if there’s rain in the forecast. And, good neighbors, don’t forget to pick up trash out of the streets, sidewalks, and front yards of your neighborhood block during Santa-Cali-Gon so at least some areas of town will look respectable. If you see trash in a church parking lot, you might pick that up too so it does not end up clogging their storm drain, again.

Hell in a calico-lined handbasket

Brace yourself. It's time to breathe in a rich lungful of grease and watch the largest white trash extravaganza in the country invade Harry Truman's neighborhood. How patriotic. Seriously, one can only dream of a Labor Day weekend of peace and tranquility (unless you're willing to leave town). In the last 20 years, I've gotten out more than a few times while the getting was good. Now, if all these Chamber types lived anywhere near here, would they possibly have an aversion to wall to wall (bad) music, toothless revelers, and don't forget the smell of funnel cakes and all other manner of foodstuffs on the diabetes 2 forbidden food list?
Let's not forget the Examiner's hard-hitting brand of journalism this week featuring a front page story about the ten favorite foods of Santa-Caligon. . . Forget about unemployment, crumbling infrastructure, crappy mass transit and a rash of foreclosures here on the north side - have a funnel cake and a lemon freeze! Why worry?
Just to be clear, I'm not opposed to a festival on the Independence Square. I am opposed to a carnival that brings tons of crime and the need for extra police protection all in the name of profits for the Chamber. Can we aspire to a better event, like the Irish Fest, maybe? Do we really have to cater to the lowest common denominator? This festival used to mean something historic in the community. It's unfortunately morphed into an orgy of bad food and entertainment all in the name of the almighty dollar. Anyway, I think the crowds are dwindling from previous years and eventually this cockroach on the pie of square progress will die a quiet death. Until then, yipee-yo-kay-yea motherfuckers!

Chamber of Santa-Cali-Gon Rules the Square!

The old steel drums are lining up on the Chamber’s parking lot along with ice machines, port-a-potties, and storage units. During one of the peak tourist months of the year, their parking lot is looking like a salvage yard. That means it’s time for Santa-Cali-Gon!!! Urban Renewal, a program cursed by new generations of city planners, has left us with a community that’s just perfect for Santa-Cali-Gon. During this 4-day festival (an event that originally celebrated our historic trails history), parking lots and empty space become much more valuable than our historic built environment. Have you noticed the abandon parking lot across the street from the Chamber at the NW corner of Osage & White Oak? It was tagged for code violations for excessive weeds (see photo above). This lot usually gets cleaned up only once a year. Did you know that it has been owned by Bank of America for many years? US tax payers recently committed $52.5 billion to this financial institution to keep them in business (more support than even General Motors). Even after this level of public support, they are still having trouble maintaining this small lot. A few years ago, the McCoy Neighborhood asked the bank to use this lot on a single Saturday morning to stage a neighborhood clean-up project. BofA declined to participate “due to existing sponsorship commitments and current marketing and business priorities.” If you’re planning on attending some of the festivities during Santa-Cali-Gon (or looking for bank), please patronize those organizations and institutions that are good neighbors. And if you see folks associated with the Chamber of Santa-Cali-Gon, wish them success for their big 4-day event, but ask them to promote the redevelopment of open spaces and blighted asphalt for the other 361 days of the year. If they look outside their windows, they’ll see what we’re talking about.

Truman Road Redevelopment Stalled

We’ve been happy to invest in the neighborhood, although everyone assured us that Truman Road would be finished. Remember 6 years ago when developer, Jim Harpool of Dial Realty, stated that he had to demolish two homes on Truman Road so he could redevelop most of the block? The demolitions had to be approved by the City Council since the houses were considered historic. There were tours so people could see the conditions of the properties. A city staff member actually resigned over the matter. Remember? Harpool received approval because he promised to fill in all the empty lots (and those he created by demolition) with architecturally appropriate housing. Six years later, we are still waiting on three empty lots and a home that is incomplete. A block full of homes is like a smile. Empty lots are like missing teeth in that smile. Why is a developer who has been successful with complex commercial projects in the Little Blue Valley having trouble with basic residential work? One of the empty lots that we get to look at every day is 813 W. Truman and was the primary subject of the controversy with preservationists. There is landscaping on it now. Does that mean nothing is going to happen there? Why aren’t folks on the redevelopment board and at City Hall upset over this? What about Church officials who refused to offer individual properties for rehab because they wanted them done all at once? Are we satisfied because the block just looks better than it did? Or do we prefer that he not complete this project because we are unhappy with what he’s done? Would City Hall be okay with a developer in the Little Blue Valley who only got half-way through a project, then lost interest? It’s ironic that property only a stone’s throw from ground considered sacred and holy is associated with broken promises.

Independence Heritage Tourism

To get the ball rolling, what do citizens think about our city’s Heritage Tourism program. The city’s annual tourism budget was $992,000. This is a higher budget than what was allocated for the Law Department, Water Pollution Control, Human Resources, and Municipal Court. In the City’s Annual Budget Report (FY July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009), prepared for the City Manager and City Council, under the City’s list of past accomplishments it states “In 2007 nearly 1/4 million visitors toured our historic attractions.” From that statement, it sounds like city officials view our existing tourism program as successful. From my observations, those statistics are no way near the actual numbers of tourists who come to Independence. What do you think? I see is a brochure stand tucked away in a dark corner of the City Hall lobby (with city employees behind locked doors). I also see a few ads and billboards. Reports indicate that we have 4 full time city employees that only work on tourism. City-owned sites such as the National Frontier Trails Center, the Vaile, and the Bingham-Waggoner Estate all have their own separate staffs and budgets. The bed tax from hotels and motels funds our tourism program. We’re lucky to have this funding source, but are we making effective use of it? The success of our Heritage Tourism program is critical to the success of the Square and the neighborhoods surrounding the Square. You would think that the presence of tourists wondering our neighborhoods would mean sidewalk improvements, filling abandon buildings (Palmer), and historic preservation activities would be a priority. Does Independence understand the relationship between heritage tourism and historic preservation?

Old School Buildings

Yes, great idea for a blog for the neighborhood and good rules. Yes, the old Palmer Bldg is an important part of the neighborhood. I believe the Independence School District has some responsibilities to clean up the mess. It was a lesson I learned in kindergarten that, if you make a mess, you clean it up. And don’t the Boy Scouts have a saying that you always leave a place in better condition than it was before you occupied it. These are pretty basic principles that seemed to have been ignored, especially in old town Independence. These lower standards for community stewardship are the reasons why we had to implement a big neighborhood revitalization program years ago. We expect property owners to live by these basic principles. Absentee landlords have trouble with this. Churches should live by this principle but also struggle. You would think that a public education institution would be more sensitive to this. I hate to put the Independence School District in the same category as absentee landlords but I guess it is time for neighbors to give them a grade card. I would also invite citizens to look at the old Santa Fe Elementary School building at 23rd & South Union Streets (see adjacent image). This is a building they sold, also, and now look at it. Will the Palmer building look like this someday? Why is Old Palmer Junior High building worth close to $1,000,000 with toxic contamination and the relatively clean Old Chrisman Junior High building was worth the cost of 32-ounce Mountain Dew at QuikTrip (that includes ice, reusable cup, and straw)? Did I hear correct, the School District will be asking us to vote for a bond issue this fall?

Requiem for the Palmer building?

Today's McCoy newsletter has an article about the Palmer building. It's for sale now, listed with a realtor for $985,000. Here's the link: http://www.ceahrealtors.com/our_properties.htm. You may remember the reason it was vacated to begin with - deadly mold. The kind that puts people in the hospital. So, is the mold just a bonus, or is this a fire sale so the school district can just walk away? I know it's ancient history, but let us remember the school building just up the street conveyed to an organization for "one dollar and other valuable considerations" and look how THAT turned out. I love the sight of winos drinking out of a paper sack, waiting for a free lunch in full view of the Truman home tourists. Nice visual. There's an election coming up in Nov. for the school district - it's time for old-towners to ask what's REALLY going to happen here.

The Evening Constitutional

As many of you know, Truman referred to his morning walk as his "constitutional." It was something he engaged in faithfully. We'll attempt to be faithful in moderating and keeping the discussion going, but probably won't have the military discipline he did - especially the morning part of it.
That said, if you live up and around the Square and/or the Truman neighborhood, let us know what's on your mind.
The rules of the blog are pretty simple - identify yourself or not and say what you think within reasonable limits. Name calling and personal insults will not be published. Tell the truth and provide links to the facts whenever possible. Other than that, I believe in the freedom of expression. Sometimes a word or two can be helpful for emphasis and for relieving stress. Blog away. Your comments are welcome.