Historic Brookside school's demolition plan halted
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The Bryant School at 57th and Wornall. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios
A Brookside school building more than a century old could be saved from the wrecking ball after an under-the-radar filing by a new city preservation commissioner.
Why it matters: The move seeks to block efforts by Kansas City Public Schools, which wants to sell the shuttered Bryant Elementary School building so it can be torn down and turned into big houses.
- The building sits on prime real estate near Loose Park, raising questions over land use, tax dollars and historic redevelopment.
Flashback: The school was built in 1915 and closed in 2009. Its enrollment of 244 students was about two-thirds of its capacity at the time, and only 1.2% of students lived in the school's ZIP code, per a 2009 report.
- KCPS considered reopening it a decade ago as enrollment grew, but the district faced significant costs to bring it up to modern standards.
- KCPS earlier this month decided to approve a plan to demolish the building, divide up the property and build large single-family homes with big yards.
The latest: Christopher Stritzel, who was appointed to the city's Historic Preservation Commission last week, filed Tuesday to have the Bryant School placed on the city's Register of Historic Places.
- The filing kicks off a series of approval procedures that immediately prevent the building's demolition, leaving the plan in limbo.
What they're saying: KCPS planning and real estate manager Jesse Lange tells Axios they surveyed nearly 300 people and weighted responses from residents in adjacent neighborhoods, who were mostly in favor of the current plan.
Friction point: An online petition with nearly 400 signatures as of Wednesday aims to save the building, arguing that a different redevelopment plan would have built more housing while also preserving history.
- Petition organizer Nicolas Kemper tells Axios KCPS likes to advocate for tax revenue and affordable housing, but "on their own 4 acres of prime Brookside real estate, they appear to be opting for a plan that maximizes neither revenue nor affordability."
- "Revenue generated by future property tax was not a determining factor," and development teams did not submit tax projections in their proposals, Lange says.
- KCPS declined to comment on the historic status filing, but says it's still in negotiations.
Between the lines: The school sits in a wealthy neighborhood where houses similar to those proposed go for $1 million to $2 million or more, per Zillow.
- Developer Zach Molzer, who was also appointed this month to the Historic Preservation Commission, criticized the plan to build houses that "solely serve the top .5%."
- "Once buildings like this are gone, we can't just get them back," he said on social media.
Context: KCPS' Repurposing Initiative has resulted in school conversions to housing and office space.
- Two previously shuttered schools, Faxon and Blenheim, were sold to Sunflower Development Group, the same company behind the Bryant demolition proposal.
What's next: The preservation commission must make a decision on the Bryant School's historic status within 90 days.