OFFICIAL: Penn Valley Park (Ideas+redeveloment)

[trailerkid]

I'm not asking for central park in KC. All I want is for commercial and residential development to shadow the park, not encroach upon it. Any highrises around it would only be a bonus. Even with challenging topography, we should still get creative and make this park a centerpiece of downtown. With the Fed, the IRS complex, and hopefully the awesome new Liberty museum...interest in this property is high and it needs attention and resources.

It would be neat to see it filled with downtowners taking a walk or jog, walking their dog, throwing the frisbee, having a picnic, taking a break from work, etc. Once you had a "critical mass" of users, how about a hot dog stand? Or better yet, a BBQ stand.

[dangerboy]

It would be neat to see it filled with downtowners taking a walk or jog, walking their dog, throwing the frisbee, having a picnic, taking a break from work, etc. Once you had a "critical mass" of users, how about a hot dog stand? Or better yet, a BBQ stand.

The off-leash dog area opened last month. Once people begin discovering it this spring, it should make a huge difference in the number of people using the park. It should attract people from all over the metro, as well as downtowners. http://www.kcscoop.org/

[scooterj]

The off-leash dog area opened last month. Once people begin discovering it this spring, it should make a huge difference in the number of people using the park. It should attract people from all over the metro, as well as downtowners. http://www.kcscoop.org/

I used it this past weekend. It's small compared to the others in the region, but it's WONDERFUL to have one now actually in the center of KC. The views from the location the picked for it are outstanding too.

*** GROSS ALERT, DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH ***
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Unfortunately my idiot dog got into a fight only a few feet into the gate. No harm done, but after we had finished our half hour of play I noticed a scratch on my dog's nose. I started to clean it, but when I pulled back on the scratch so that the antiseptic could get in, I discovered it was a little more than a scratch. Her face started to unwrap. Didn't faze her a bit, but put me out a few hundred bucks to get her sewn back up. Fortunately she's a shar-pei so she's bred with rapid-healing skin. And she's gotten herself into nastier trouble than this instance.

[trailerkid]

The Pitch is pimping a skatepark in Penn Valley Park and provides some insight into the possible commercial redevelopment of portions of the park.

http://www.pitch.com/issues/2004-03-04/ ... index.html

From pitch.com
Originally published by The Pitch Mar 04, 2004
©2004 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
Liberty for All
Skateboarders may fend off druggies and pervs -- and big developers -- in Penn Valley Park.
BY NADIA PFLAUM

One sunny Sunday last October, Chris Benge stared at his right hand as it dripped blood down the underside of his skateboard and onto Liberty Memorial's limestone stairs. Moments earlier, he'd announced, "I'm going to jump this son of a bitch!" and ollied off one of the steep ramps on the north side of the memorial's observation deck. All seemed to be going well until he reached the bottom. His board jerked to a stop where the ramp met level ground, but Benge kept skidding, leaving bits of skin as he went and proving that the World War I monument wasn't intended as a skatepark.

It may be fortunate, then, that the newest and most promising prospective location for a real skatepark is about half a mile southwest of the memorial at Penn Valley Park.

Over the past couple of years, a task force made up of city planners and skaters has studied potential locations for a skatepark. The group eventually identified Gillham Park as a strong possibility, but neighbors opposed the idea ("Hot About Wheels," August 28, 2003). Although the task force hasn't given up on that site, recent attention has turned to Penn Valley Park.

The task force's proposal went over remarkably well at a February 7 meeting at Penn Valley Community College, where fifty or so neighborhood activists, skaters, parks commissioners and residents met to discuss the park's future. Skateboarders might turn out to be the Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Recreation Department's first line of defense against public sex.

As Parks Commissioner Bob Lewellen pointed out, the memorial has a reputation -- and it's not the good kind. Lewellen recalled a 2000 meeting of the National Recreation and Parks Association in St. Louis that he attended with about 7,000 employees from parks systems around the country. At a seminar put together by park rangers and police to address "problem parks" -- where people cruise for drugs and sex -- a picture of Liberty Memorial flashed onto a screen. "It was a shock to see that," Lewellen said.

In other cities, he said, skateparks that are well-lighted and 24-hour-accessible have driven away undesirable activities.

Dick Woods, the vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the new $200 million headquarters for which will be Penn Valley's neighbor to the southeast, said he was impressed by the skatepark task force's organization and presentation.

However, Steve Berkheiser, Liberty Memorial's executive director, worried that skaters who were bored with their own park might make his memorial a second playground.

Skaters scoff at that logic. Stephan Baker, 21, is a member of the task force and an employee of Lovely, a skate shop on 18th Street. "Most of the groundwork and cement is so rough it's almost unskateable," he says of Liberty Memorial. "Think about it. You've got this awesome, perfectly designed, perfectly smooth skatepark in your right hand, and this really, really rough, janky, rocky terrain in your other hand." Skaters, he says, "won't look twice at Liberty Memorial, because they'll see their skatepark and their eyes will light up."

However, other interests have their eyes on the same stretch of land, which runs roughly from the Scout statue south to the BMA Tower.

By 2007, when construction on the new Federal Reserve building is complete, as many as 1,100 employees could be jogging around Penn Valley Park on their lunch breaks. Joining them will be the folks working for the new DST-developed, $380 million IRS building outside the park's northwest corner.

And park neighbors have long worried about DST Realty's rumored plans for a housing development inside the park. At the February 7 meeting, the public got its first glimpse of the actual drawings when Jim Calcara of CDFM2 Architecture presented colorful posters and maps showing a series of lakes starting near the Firefighters' Fountain and extending north down the hill to the park's fishing pond. A pedestrian bridge could help people cross Broadway, he said, and an elevator could lift people from the roadside to the top of the bluff.

It would all be paid for by two clusters of housing.

Calcara later told the Pitch that his team had envisioned "an Italian hill town, like townhouses with Italian flavor." They'd mapped out six or seven houses in a row, green space and then more housing. "All we were trying to do was see how many would fit in kind of a defined area."

The housing, which would take up 14 acres of park land -- as much as 10 percent of the available green space -- would be a necessary trade-off to bankroll the park improvements, Calcara told meeting attendees. Neighbors, however, questioned how necessary it really was.

"It's prime space," Ricky Olivares tells the Pitch. Olivares is a member of the Friends of Penn Valley Park, a group of park neighbors. "Lots of the land in Penn Valley is very hilly, rocky, but those 14 acres they wanted were the flattest, highest points in the park, all as a trade-off for a series of lakes coming from the Firefighters' Fountain, which would become a waterpark supposedly for the community. But in reality, they'd make those lakes as a selling point for them to be able to sell their homes for more [money]. So the community didn't really gain anything. They just lost 14 acres."

DST spokeswoman Jill Metzler tells the Pitch that the firm will not be involved in a housing development at Penn Valley Park. Calcara says CDFM2, which is working with DST on the IRS building project, came up with the drawings as a "civic gesture" to see how people would react. If the response were good, Calcara says, it would be up to another developer to see it through.

But some neighborhood residents were concerned that nobody contacted them before drawing up plans.

"We did this all backwards," Calcara admitted to the group. "This plan was not for public consumption until after we discussed it from within." Calcara says those discussions involved his design team at CDFM2, DST, parks commissioners and Mayor Kay Barnes, who saw the plan before the public did.

"This is a master planning process for Penn Valley Park, and those firms were in partnership with Parks and Recreation in initiating the public planning process to figure out what makes sense in a long-range direction for Penn Valley Park," mayoral aide Donovan Mouton tells the Pitch. "They listed various issues, like what is available as far as funding to realize the vision out of this public process; what to do with amenities like the lakes, the trails; whether housing makes sense and how to reconcile all these different uses, from the IRS to the Federal Reserve; and the changes related to increased housing around the park, too."

Ultimately, any decision on whether to give up park land for housing would be up to a public vote.

But, Mouton says, "The mayor has been very clear that she wants to see both new and rehabbed housing throughout the urban core."

Barnes has also made it clear that she doesn't want skateboarders downtown. But even though Barnes has outlawed his method of getting to work, Baker understands where she's coming from. "Anything that helps development in the downtown area is a good thing," he says. "If you can get people to feel safe downtown, then Mayor Kay has succeeded, which she hasn't done at all, as I see it, yet."

A skatepark, with its dual youth-drawing and scuzzball-chasing powers, may be just what's needed. "It's a field of dreams," Baker says. "If you build it, they will come. And they will spend money."

[KC_Fan]

I heard on the radio this afternoon that the skatepark has been approved for Penn Valley Park, at an estimated cost of $250,000. They were talking about Mayor Barnes and other issues surrounding the decision, so it sounded believable.

Anyone know if this is factual?

[KCPowercat]

Well I saw it in the paper today....so take that for what it's worth.

[trailerkid]

I heard on the radio this afternoon that the skatepark has been approved for Penn Valley Park, at an estimated cost of $250,000. They were talking about Mayor Barnes and other issues surrounding the decision, so it sounded believable.

Anyone know if this is factual?

Barnes got behind it? It was not to long ago she held a press conference at Barney Allis Plaza declaring war on skaters in downtown. Even that conservative lady who's a columnist at the Star said she was a fool for trying to banish skaters instead of coming up with a compromise.

[KC_Fan]

The reported said the mayor was backing the plan to put a skate park in Penn Valley Park in order to keep skaters "out of downtown." I'm assuming that means she wants to keep them off the sidewalks and common areas.

I don't try to understand it all .... but I do hope they follow through on this plan. Someone told me about a skatepark somewhere out in JoCo that is ALWAYS packed with skaters. I think that would be nice to have some folks in Penn Valley park all the time.

[paisstat]

Building housing in a public park is a terrible idea. We need to preserve as much green space as possible. The park needs to be totally rehabbed, but not with housing. It needs new sidewalks, new stone walls, new curbs on the streets, etc... As far as housing, there are vacant lots behind and beside Anni's Lofts that would be great for apartment buildings the size of Annie's. I agree, the area around signal hill as well, but then there is the factor of displacing the poor residents who live there now. They deserve to have homes too.

[trailerkid]

Was this a part of the master plan????

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Park officials agree to cede land to IRS

Kansas City parks officials on Tuesday agreed to cede nearly 31,000 square feet of Penn Valley Park to the Internal Revenue Service to allow parking lot construction for the agency.

The “friendly condemnationâ€

[FangKC]

As far as housing, there are vacant lots behind and beside Anni's Lofts that would be great for apartment buildings the size of Annie's.

Paisstat: those vacant lots are part of the IRS development. Three buildings will be constructed there in the very near future to house temporary IRS staff.

I agree. No private residential devrlopment in PVP. There are plenty of other places to build in and around the park. The plan put forward takes some of the prime areas of the parkland--flat open space and areas with the best views. If developers want to create residential property with view of downtown, then they can develop the east periphery of downtown. The area bounded by Independence Avenue to 18th St., and from the east loop of the freeway to The Paseo. That area sits on a hilltop with great views. There is parkland along Paseo and more could be created in that area. Residential towers could then be built around the park areas that would have wonderful views of downtown. In addition, this is an area that is in greater need of redevelopment. Much of the area is either vacant or has buildings that need to be torn down anyway.

There are also many development opportunities west of I-35 and Southwest Trafficway north of 31st Street. That area, called the Westside, is quite hilly and offers wonderful views as well.

[tat2kc]

has anyone seen the building designs for the IRS buildings?

[KCDevin]

No, but it was hinted in the article that this thread is about (in a picture).
This is a sketch I did of what it is supposed to look like from the air:

[paisstat]

Fang? Help me out, the land on which the buildings were just razed will house new IRS buildings correct? That is just north of Anne's. What about those vacant lots just to the west of Anne's? Are those to become part of IRS too? Will the project surround Anne's?

I personally think putting housing in PVP is the most stupid idea the city has had in a long time. Think of all the vacant lots that could be infilled and put to use for construction! No building in the park. Fix it up, get it ready for the Fed and the IRS. Build housing on all those grassy lots south of Crown Center. I am so fond of all the new low rise--three to four story buildings--that have been constructed in Chicago. They are mostly in the post-modern form and are beautiful buildings and are very urban. This would fit in nicely on these areas. This area needs to be more urban and dense. It needs to infill with the Union Hill developments, which are fantastic by the way and once the Gillham Row area is done, this city will really be on the track to becoming a dense city from downtown to the Plaza.

[KCDevin]

look at the above sketch, the small building in the upper right is the Post Office.
I didn't include the highrise next to it.

[Pork Chop]

Updated master plan for Penn Valley Park offers safeguards from development

By MATT CAMPBELL

The Kansas City Star


Penn Valley Park should be off-limits to private developers, according to a report expected to be approved today.

An updated master plan for the park also calls for improving access and security and creating a support association among the park's neighbors.

The plan, which will be voted on today by the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, revises a 1991 plan. It was spurred in part by concerns over designs on the park by private developers.

Officials also considered the timing right for an update in light of the downtown revival and the more than half a billion dollars being invested on the park's periphery with new complexes for the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve Bank.

“It was always kind of like our Central Park, but today it is even more so,â€

[FangKC]

If they want to create housing, then do it AROUND the park. The park will create opportunity and value. People in NYC pay millions for views of Central Park.

There is ample opportunity to develop the periphery of the park. Apartment towers could be built on the west side of SW Trafficway, on the south side of 31st St., and on the east side of Main. The developers were seeking unimpended development (raw land), instead of having to buy out property owners along the periphery of the park, and paying to demolish the buildings.

[dangerboy]

If they want to create housing, then do it AROUND the park. The park will create opportunity and value. People in NYC pay millions for views of Central Park.

There is ample opportunity to develop the periphery of the park. Apartment towers could be built on the west side of SW Trafficway, on the south side of 31st St., and on the east side of Main. The developers were seeking unimpended development (raw land), instead of having to buy out property owners along the periphery of the park, and paying to demolish the buildings.

Where would these towers go? The south side of 31st is already covered by two big office buildings, and Penn Valley Community College. The east side of Main is also fully developed with thriving businesses. There's some vacant land just south of Crown Center that they already plan to use for residential in the future. SW Trafficway is a pretty big barrier between the park and neighborhood to the west. The Trinity hospital site is the closest place to the park for housing.

[thedream]

Besides Central park in New York very well maintianed unlike penn valley.
To close the park form ever being opened to outside developers is suicide for the park's future in my opinion and to be clear the cluster housing tha was proposed by the last group who tried to give the park new life was not the best way to go about it. Closing off the park is bad!!! Where does the city think it is going to come up with the money needed for upgrades. I am going to honest if the city or the parks department is in charge it will come out looking horrible and cheap and will have countless problems like all the other parks.

[dangerboy]

Last night a Parks & Rec official spoke with the KC SCOOP group that works on dog park issues. He stated that the Penn Valley skate park will be started and finished within 120 days, so probably mid to late summer of this year.

Also, they are working on getting at least parts of the PV masterplan available for download.