KANSAS CITY, Kan. — On Thursday night, the Wyandotte County Commission voted to put a 90-day pause on creating the Healthy Campus in downtown KCK.
Talks about the project have gone on for years, with much community input and donors contributing around $6 million.
The pause stems from an issue with securing a grocery store that will operate in downtown KCK, according to County Administrator Doug Bach.
The project largely relies on cooperation from the YMCA to build a new facility and a grocery store to help make the community healthier.
Bach originally wanted to pause the project for an unknown amount of time. He said it would cost millions to go forward with planning and architecture when a grocery store hasn't signed on the dotted line.
Some commissioners balked at the statement, saying they weren't aware the grocer the city has been working with wasn't committed.
The commission voted just a couple months ago to spend $2 million on buying a site for the Healthy Campus.
Six community members, including stakeholders in the project, addressed the commission expressing their concern and disappointment at the delay.
"I'm very concerned about the fact that so many partners were left in the dark about this proposal. I'm concerned about what this decision will mean to commitments that have been received from various funders," Beth Low-Smith of KC Healthy Kids said.
The Wyandotte Health Foundation donated $1 million to the Healthy Campus project. The foundation's president, Cathy Harding, said city staff didn't consult them before adding the item to the agenda.
The YMCA pledged $11 million to the project and said delaying it will create more challenges at their current 100-year-old building.
YMCA Spokesperson David Bird said they're still committed.
Other people stressed the need for a grocery store, hoping the commission wouldn't abandon the project.
"We have to go to the Dollar Store and they don't even have bread," one neighbor said.
Mayor David Alvey said the decision is more "gathering momentum" than a "pause."
"The operator of the grocery store that has come forward is being very cautious themselves because they want to make sure it's sustainable. I think it's a positive all the way around," Alvey said.
Alvey said now they're working with a few different grocery stores, but won't reveal who they are.
Because the project isn't complete, the U.G. is not willing to issue $37 million in GO bonds, which means they won't be eligible for millions in needed, market tax credits for 2018.
Bach will update the commission on his efforts in securing the grocery store in 90 days.
