WESTWOOD, Kan. — Around Westwood, Kan., you'll see signs that read, "Save the Park".
That's the battle Westwood resident Beckie Brown is fighting.
The signs refer to Joe D. Dennis Park on West 50th Street and Rainbow Boulevard.
"This is a neighborhood," Brown said. "This isn’t a shopping center."
In 2023, the city announced they were planning to sell Joe D. Dennis Park and the surrounding property to the Karbank Group. The former Westwood View Elementary School is next to that property. The city told KSHB they are working with the Shawnee Mission School District to purchase the vacant school, which would be funded by Karbank.
The Kansas City developers want to build office and retail space, along with a parking lot.
Brown and other supporters started Friends of the Westwood Parkland, a nonprofit fighting to save the park.
They allege the city did not follow state law, KSA 12-1301, and didn't give proper notice of the sale.
"They claimed that the law did not apply to our park," Brown said.
KSHB 41 reached out to the city, who argued they held several public meetings and hearings on the fate of the park.
After a yearlong legal fight, the decision will now be up to voters.
Council members decided at the December city council meeting the question will be on the April 2025 ballot.
"We are concerned that people are going to be voting and we know for a fact that they do not have all the information," Brown said.
In an email to KSHB 41, the city laid out the entire proposal from Karbank. It includes adding a park of over three acres to part of the property.
Brown said that's not enough.
"It's not that we're snobs, it's not that we don't want anything to change," Brown said. "It's just that this development is not appropriate for this space."
For Brown and other Friends of the Westwood Parkland, it's become more than just a fight over a park.
"We just want to make sure that they have got the best information possible to make their choice," Brown said.
