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The holidays are about coming together, but in Westwood, Kansas, there's a crack in the community. You're either team "Save the Park" or team "Build the Park."
Westwood neighbors are divided on whether or not the city should sell Joe D. Dennis Park and its surrounding properties to the Karbank Group.
Westwood resident of 12 years Spencer Day is team "Build the Park."
Next year, community members will vote on whether or not to sell Joe D. Dennis Park and its surrounding properties to the Karbank Group.
The former Westwood View Elementary School sits adjacent to the park, and the city is working with the Shawnee Mission School District to purchase the site with help from Karbank.
In addition to office and retail space, Karbank is planning to add a three-acre park on the property.
Day is on the Park Steering Committee. He said he'd love to build a new park because the current one is deteriorating.
"It has a fountain that no longer functions, it has playground equipment that’s kind of falling apart," Day said. "So we wanna move it off of that and into the heart of the neighborhood to reconnect it with the school."
The school that Day is referring to is the new Westwood View Elementary School that sits on the corner of 50th and Belinder Avenue. The new park would be catty-corner to the school.
"Kids get out of school right down here and come across to the new park, and that’s kind of one of the things that makes Westwood special," Day said.
Day said he trusts the city to make the right decision for the community, and he started a letter in support of others who do, too. Currently, it has over 300 signatures.
"It’s mostly parents at the school," Day said. "I have neighbors who would love to have a job in a building and be able to walk two minutes to their children’s school."
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