By Paul Thompson
Northeast News
June 22, 2016
KANSAS CITY, Missouri– Coming soon to a neighborhood near you: a demolished Manchester School.
City officials have indicated that prep work for the demolition has already been done, and that the walls of the abandoned, dilapidated structure will soon come down. The demolition of Manchester School (6839 Truman Road) was pinpointed as a top priority when the city launched its Neighborhood Revitalization Plan on Thursday, June 2. The former KCPS facility, sold in 2009, has been the site of a pair of dangerous fires since 2011.
The revitalization effort is leveraging $10 million in city-issued bonds to level roughly 800 dangerous buildings over the next two years – including almost 20 such structures in the Historic Northeast. KCMO City Manager Troy Schulte discussed the plans for Manchester during the revitalization plan’s launch on June 2.
“We just heard from the contractor that they are moving from here to Manchester Elementary, which is an abandoned school that is owned by the Land Bank on Truman Road,” said Schulte. “You’ll see a lot of demolition over the next couple of weeks.”
The city is now making good on its promise to tear down Manchester early this summer – which is a sight for sore eyes for Northeast residents who’ve been waiting on this day for years.
“For over twenty years, it’s been unused and deteriorating. Since the fire, its been a prominent eyesore, not just for Blue Valley, but for anybody traveling down Truman Road,” said Bob Storck, Communications Director of the Blue Valley Neighborhood Association. “It winds up being a bad image for the entire neighborhood and the 3rd District. I could not be happier that it is finally being taken down.”