KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Since the foreclosure sale of Parade Park Homes in March, many residents have moved out as developers continue the three-phase redevelopment process.
In late September, the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council approved a $300-million redevelopment plan for 1,084 units as a collaboration between Flaherty & Collins Properties and Twelfth Street Heritage Development Corporation.
KSHB 41’s Rachel Henderson spoke with longtime resident Lynn Williams in March when the city bought Parade Park from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"It was a community, I’m tellin’ ya. A real good community. And then, you get DAWG doors," Williams laughed.
Since then, she’s moved into The Residences at Park 39 in Westport, but she said the journey there wasn’t the easiest.
Henderson caught up with Williams at her sister/former neighbor's new apartment, which is down the street from Parade Park.
“It was almost sometimes depressing because you were really, you know you have to go, but you don’t know where you’re going,” Williams said.
Williams said many issues came from residents needing more time to leave their apartments than they were initially allowed.
Other bumps in the move-out process included certain residences not knowing how to use the HUD-authorized Tenant Protection Vouchers and residents being directed toward “unsuitable” residences, according to Williams.
Williams was a part of Phase 1 of the plan.
“I hope Phases 2 and 3 are better,” she said.
At one point, Williams wrote a letter requesting more time beyond the Oct. 7 deadline. Williams said she moved out Oct. 10.
On Oct. 27, there were still residents moving out of their units at Parade Park.
“Most of Parade Park are seniors,” Williams said. “And I’m talking about 70s, 80s, 90s.”
She said that age range means some people might not move back or be alive when the development is done in a few years.
The current plan includes 80 senior housing units and 200 low-income housing units.
Williams said she’s unsure if she’ll return now that she’s moved despite former residents getting the first right of refusal once the new units are built.
“Packing and unpacking are difficult,” Williams said. “And the older you get, it’s even worse.”
But what about Parade Park’s legacy?
“I don’t care what they build over there,” Williams said. “Parade Park died, as far as I’m concerned.”
With just a few cars left in driveways, broken siding and boarded-up windows, Williams described the current state as “eerie.”
And with the property's exterior nearly unrecognizable to Williams, she feels the name should be changed, too.
“This whole community that we had is all over Kansas City or out of state and stuff now,” Williams said. “So we lost family, we lost friends.”
Williams doesn’t blame developers for the state of the once historic, Black-owned co-op. Instead, she cited tensions between the former co-op’s board as the root issue.
“It was in the palm of our hands,” Williams said. “Nobody took it from us.”
She said she was always a proponent of redevelopment, but she knows the history of the area she once recognized is slowly fading.
“That area down there, 18th and Vine area, it’s no longer going to be a Black community," she said. "It’s going to be like Westport, it’s going to be like Crossroads.”
Despite the hardship, Williams explained the lesson she learned from her experience.
“Watch your boards, watch your co-ops, watch your homeowners associations, watch your neighborhood associations,” she said.
As far as preserving history goes, Williams believes in the power of oral storytelling. She’s also a proponent of participating in history as opposed to spectating.
“I don’t want to come down when the project’s finished; I want to watch and see the project,” Williams said. “Stay on point. Be a part of it. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever throw in your towel.”
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KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
