The Real Independence Events Center

Come to the "Real" Independence Events Cneter.  It's the place where fur traders did business, where pioneer trails began to open up western territories of this great country, where slaves were bought and sold, where Civil War battles were fought, where brave soldiers died, where US Presidents delivered speeches, where regional banks conducted international trade, where one of the greatest US Presidents honed his political skills, where outlaws of the Old West were jailed, and where religious leaders came to spread the Word.  It is the center where events occurred that actually changed the lives of local citizens and shaped a great nation.  If anyone asks you if you've been to the Independence Events Center, ask them if they mean the real one or the one down south for minor league games and the occasional concert and, yes of course, cage fighting.  Is it the one our forefathers built and graciously passed down to us or is it the one we borrowed over $80,000,000 so we can enjoy it today while leaving the debt to future generations?

Full Frontal Disclosure

This entry is to give equal billing and to provide full disclosure of tax-exempt properties posting signs to persuade citizens to vote on tax-related issues (see blog entry from 10-27-10 "Would Jesus Vote Yes on Amendment 3?"). In the recent election last Tuesday, several frontal areas of the front yards on Delaware Street were displaying "Vote Yes for a Safer City" here in the Truman Neighborhood. At least 2 of those homes had been granted tax abatement through the Midtown / Truman Road Corridor (M/TRC) Neighborhood Revitalization Program. And one of those homes is the residence of a familar face on City 7 (the taxpayer-supported public access information channel which is accessible through Comcast Cable, Facebook, YouTube, Vineo, & the City's website and had been broadcasting "Vote Yes" messages for many weeks from the City Council chambers). It's certainly noteworthy that homeowners who do not pay any property tax are willing to post a sign and actively campaign for higher taxes for the rest of the community. It was just a few weeks ago that the Kansas City Star Editorial Board published a column in the newspaper commenting about the campaign and City Hall using expressions like "damage their creditability" and "neither honest or transparent" and "should not be trying to mislead residents." As most citizens are aware, the "No's" won that election last Tuesday (by almost a 3 to 1 margin, the highest margin I recall in any election over the last few decades). Frankly speaking, I don't believe anyone came out a winner on this issue. I recall a few years ago when we had a spike in neighborhood crime and a few citizens complained about it to their public officials. City Hall soon after that removed most of the annual crime statistics from their website and accused those annoying complainers as being alarmists and spouting harangue. Those same officials would end up doing a complete 180 and use the same tactics they criticized to convince voters that the crime wave is upon us. As folks try to put a spin on the election results, we are starting to hear that it was all about our poor citizens who couldn't afford the extra tax. But from what we heard in the community, not to mention the KC Star, it seemed to be about creditability, honesty, transparency, and leadership. In hindsight, our "Vote Yes" efforts to fight crime and improve public safety here in Harry Truman's hometown might have been more successful if the City Council had not campaigned at all or had actually come out against the tax!

St. Mary's Launches Hail Mary Pass to Lee's Summit

As local preservation and revitalization efforts on the grid iron grind to a halt, Old Town Independence ends up with another Trojan Horse. The Kansas City - St. Joseph Diocese announced recently their game-winning touchdown pass while scoring on some valuable real estate in Lee's Summit. The Diocese officialy announce in late January that it plans to merge St. Mary's and O'Hara High Schools and build a new high school in the booming area of Lee's Summit. To state in the Examiner article that St. Mary's is a "longtime facility" appears to be the understatement of the year. The school, as reported, dates back to 1853 making it even older than the Independence Public Schools. I believe that makes St. Mary's the oldest (or one of the oldest) high school in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River. The presence fo the Catholic Church here in Independence predates manyof the Protestant denominations and the arrival of Joseph Smith. The long and rich history of the Catholic Church on this property in Old Town is something to be celebrated and should be a source of pride. The local comminity should extend gratitude to the Catholic Church for their historic commitment to Old Town. Several years back I recall some encouragement that the high school was interested in staying when they demolished a Victorian home on the northwest corner of Main & College Streets for, what was stated in a public meeting, the construction of a library facility. Obviously, the library was never built and we are left with yet another empty lot. St. Mary's decision to move actually makes sense. A modern institution of learning combined with a successful athletic program requires much more space than they have on Main Street. And for this kind of investment to be financially viable, it has to be in a growing area. And to quote the St. Mary's official; this part of town is "not growing" (which could be interpreted as a polite way of saying the current area of town is in decline). I've alway believed that the true character of an institution should be judged not just on what direction they are headed but also for what they leave behind. Every time an institution leaves the Truman Neighborhood and Old Town (and we've had numerous), huge voids are left. Community-based efforts and planning are necessary to not only determine how to fill voids and empty spaces that sustain and build up our community (without the dependency of expensive public subsidies), but also how to retain outstanding institutions, businesses, and young families in the city's historic core. This is the challenge that no one seems to be interested in. The biggest concerns at City Hall appear to be focused on filling voids in the retail development in the Little Blue Valley, a development type that has traditionally had a life-span of maybe 1 or 2 generations at best. Old Town Independence has been around for 8 generations and continues to have the potential to play even a larger role in the educational, economic, and spiritual development of the city and the nation. When we put all our eggs in one valley, don't be surprised when the creek rises and washes them away.

Landlady Loses Two Tenants

Our infamous absentee landlady, who got the attention of the
entire Missouri State Legislature and every media outlet when she place a
registered sex offender (Randy Lande) adjacent to the First Baptist Church Day
Care Center, recently lost two tenants from her buildings near the corner of
Spring & Farmer Streets. The first
loss was a nice gentleman who actually lived there only a few months but was
compelled to move out a few weeks ago. In his own words, he had witnessed too much crime and drugs and was
worried about his own safety. The circumstances
of the second tenant leaving must have been a premonition of the first
tenant. You see, the second tenant left
a week later allegedly in a body bag. Just like the duplex on Pleasant Street, I’m sure the Landlady, with
these new vacancies, can give you a “Move in Special.” If anyone tells you that the biggest obstacles
to the preservation of Truman Neighborhood is poor sidewalks, inadequate
signage, and inconsistent preservation standards, then we have even more evidence
of locals under-the-influence. I can't
image anyone living near the corner of Farmer & Spring believing that the
state of the neighborhood and the city is good. Oh well, life goes on in the Truman National Historic Landmark
District. But in some cases, it doesn’t.

Judgment Day on Pleasant Street

Boy, have we got a deal for you. The duplex at 527-529 North Pleasant mentioned in the last blog entry and on March 19, 2011, appears to be ready for you to rent and, according to the sign in the yard, has a "Move In Special." Yes, this is the site of our local "Armageddon" where we had people behaving badly, chaos, the earth trembling, explosions, fires, and the heaven storming down on and into the building. The adjacent high-rise apartment building with the best view of the property even had the address "666" a few years ago (until local religious leaders changed it). All signs point to this being the place to be to witness all the action during the "End Times" in 2012. Just remember, you don't have to go to the Independence Events Center to witness the epic and dramatic clashes of Good vs. Evil. And if you don't prefer this property, this landlord has over a hundred other properties in Independence where, I'm sure, he can cut you a deal without selling your soul.

“For Us it’s Love of God and Love of Neighbor”

The above is a quote of Pastor Scott Myers of the
176-year-old congregation of the Westport Presbyterian Church after surveying what was left of the devastating fire (12-28-11) that gutted their circa 1904 stone church structure located in the heart of historic Westport, a small pioneer trails community actually founded 3 years before the establishment of the Town of Kansas (Kansas City). West Port was established by John Calvin McCoy in 1835 and was an elder at this church. John Calvin was an acquaintance and likely business associate of William & John McCoy of Independence but was not a directly related to them. The church and the adjacent environs have a well-documented and rich history. But it’s been more recent history that is most interesting and where there are valuable lessons on neighborhood preservation and the vigilant struggle against urban blight. During “white flight” and the urbanization of Kansas City beginning in the 1960’s, many Kansas City churches locked their doors, boarded up their stained glass windows, and literally abandoned neighborhoods at a time when the spiritual needs of the community were great. Instead of following the popular trend of that time period and taking the easy path to the suburbs, Westport Presbyterian Church made the decision to stay in its historic setting even though their congregation was dwindling also. That’s right; they decided to be a part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem. Westport Presbyterian became an active participant in the preservation and revitalization of the Westport neighborhood and business district. They didn’t do it buying up property, expanding their parking, and creating a barrier between neighborhood and church. They did it by reaching out their hand to assist their neighbors and being an integral part of practically every aspect of the neighborhood including youth and elderly programs, the arts, environmental concerns, city planning, fighting crime, and, yes of course, spreading the Word of God. Many community-based nonprofit organizations consider Westport Presbyterian Church their headquarters and many of those were actually established by the church and church members. They were not just a landlord of agencies and programs but an overseer and stake holder actively participating in the success of those activities. This is how it is supposed to work! Here in Independence, we had even more opportunities for these types of partnerships, but unfortunately most of those related to the Truman National Historic Landmark District not only failed to occur but resulted in adversarial relationships. In fact, one prominent religious leader actually made the public statement that their purchase of additional residential properties surrounding church properties was for “self defense.” Please pray for and support the good Christian folks at Westport Presbyterian and be supportive of churches that build bridges instead barriers to their neighborhoods and communities.

Top Eleven for 2011

11. The duplex at 527-529 N. Pleasant, the site of alleged drug activities, an explosion, arson, etc., continues to sit with “Dangerous Building” tags for several years now. Its location at the Pleasant Street entrance into the new and expanded National Historic Landmark District is dropping property values, is a local public nuisance and a national disgrace. See blog from March 19th.
10. Further up the street at 419 N. Pleasant is a home actually owned by the City who has promised to restore it using funds from the National Stabilization Program (NSP). The City was actually recognized by HUD in their investments in other parts of town while ignoring a project in the one of the most important neighborhoods in the country. This property has been a contributing element of the National Historic Landmark District since 1971. See blog entry from March 17, 2010.
9. On that same note, the Independence School District continues to leave an empty historic school building, ironically also on Pleasant Street, while also taking their successes further west. Because of the mold contamination left by ISD, potential developers have no choice but to spend money cleaning up the mess, thus limiting what they can do for investing in the property.
8. The empty parking lot owned by Bank of America continues to have a purpose for only Santa-Cali-Gon and to serve as blight for one of the east entrances into the National Historic Landmark District. Unfortunately, Connect Ministries who pocketed easy cash selling parking spaces didn’t bother to clean up the mess left by the previous Santa-Cali-Gon and the one before that. The cycle continues! At least it is not on Pleasant Street.
7. And directly across the street from Bank of America’s infamous parking lot, the Truman Heartland Community Foundations moves out of Truman’s true heartland, his beloved neighborhood.
6. The neighborhood’s problem with absentee landlords who actually prefer those with a criminal record and who are registered sex offenders finally get the attention of government officials but it wasn’t until after the brutal rape of an 8-year-old girl on Pleasant Street. No, the attention wasn’t from local officials but from the entire Missouri State Legislature who acted quickly to close loop holes that put neighborhood children in danger.
5. Planning continues for sidewalk improvements along Delaware Street and undergrounding utilities with ground breaking hopefully this year. Still waiting to see, in our quest for authenticity, if the absentee landlord at 315 N. Delaware will correct his driveway expansion which should determine if the city enforces preservation standards equally for everybody. And speaking of those standards, will the stamped and stained concrete actually look like the historic pavers? Let’s hope so, but history will judge.
4. City Hall loses its full-time Preservation Manager, Wendy Shay, resulting in almost a 40 percent drop in the Historic Preservation Department’s budget. Yes, the Historic Preservation Department is doing its part to pay for shortfalls in the Bass Pro Development in the Little Blue Valley. But reducing the budget so drastically the same year the Truman National Historic District is expanded to almost 3 times its original size is not an appropriate demonstration of support.
3. After publishing the blog “Taking it to the Next Level” on April 3rd, the City has agreed to make a substantial investment in the National Frontier Trails Center. Great move!!! Yes, Old Town Independence is not just about Harry Truman.
2. The McClain’s continues to have success in opening several more businesses on the historic Square. Now that the Independence Square in an important piece of the new expanded National Historic Landmark District, the McClain’s should be receiving “National” awards for these tremendous contribution.
1. And in the biggest news for the area, on July 27th, 2011, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, officially announced the expansion of the Truman National Historic Landmark District making it one of the largest Landmark Districts in the country. Thank you to the National Park Service officials and staff for compiling the 250-plus-page nomination paperwork and the neighbors and city staff who organized the celebration event in November. The next step should be to actually make the national district a part of the city’s local planning and zoning efforts with the expansion of the city’s Truman Heritage District.

Yes, some positive things are happening but we obviously have a lot of work to do. The ultimate privilege and honor of hosting an important National Historic Landmark District means that local governments, institutions, schools, and churches should put the stewardship of their properties located within the district at their highest priority. Is this the case in Independence? Well, 2012 is a new year with new opportunities. Happy New Year! And, in the spirit of the blog from July 17th, “Happy Founder’s Day!!!”