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.