KSHB 41 reporter Caroline Hogan covers development across the Kansas City area. Share your story idea with Caroline.
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The Country Club Plaza has been through many changes in the past century, between new owners, tenants and events.
Special Collections Archivist of the KC Public Library, Sarah Biegelsen, explains that in the Plaza's early days, it hosted a variety of celebrations. For example, Halloween with witches and pumpkins, summer concerts in a drained Brush Creek, and a fiesta.
"Upwards of, like, 25,000 people went to that event," Biegelsen said. "They were just really trying to get people coming into the Plaza to shop during the Great Depression."
Now, with the new Plaza owners, HP Village Partners, even more changes are afoot. Customers have already seen clean-ups and more security.
They're introducing a new event on Saturday, April 12: the Spring Stroll. It's an event that offers exclusive discounts and gifts with purchases at stores, as well as a local artisan pop-up.
The Spring Stroll comes at a time when multiple storefronts have closed at the Plaza this past month.
Whether or not a business wants to close, or wants to do something different, or move on, or it’s part of our master plan," Victoria Snee, the Plaza's chief marketing officer, said. "It’s kind of different for each individual case."
The long-term goal is to keep the Plaza a destination.
"We want to come up with great ideas and ways to get people engaged, and really give them a reason to come besides just coming and running into, you know, a store of something you might need, but really spending quality time here," Snee said.
It's one step towards bringing the Plaza back.
"It’s a new generation for new traditions to come about," Biegelsen said. "There’s always room to build new memories."
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