A historical photograph of a dedication ceremony at the Don Bosco Center (1940). | Photo courtesy of Jody Valet

Carter Galloway

Editorial Assistant

A new documentary covering Columbus Park history — formerly known as the North End — has begun production. It will focus primarily on the Little Italy community, which formed in the North End, the development of Guinotte Manor housing development, its name change to Columbus Park and its eventual evolution to the neighborhood it is today.

This film will be titled “The Neighborhood: The North End becomes Columbus Park” and is planned to be previewed Oct. 26, 2025. Writer and producer Jody Valet said she believes the film will showcase the neighborhood back in its prime.

“Most younger people don’t realize how large the neighborhood originally was,” said Valet. “And here we are today, rather than a huge neighborhood, it’s just a little bitty island in the middle of the city.”

Valet touched on the stereotypes and misinformed views created about Kansas City Italians from documentaries heavily covering the Kansas City Mafia. She said she hopes this film can reverse those views and showcase the overlooked history of Kansas City Italians.

“People outside of our community only know about mafia stuff because of several documentaries written about the Kansas City Mafia,” said Valet. “But the real secret history of Kansas City Italians are stories about good, hard-working, honest, educated people that came to the United States to work hard and prosper. That’s your secret history.”

However, the goal of this documentary isn’t just to educate. Profits from the film will be used to raise funds to build a monument honoring Kansas City Italian immigrants in Columbus Park.

The original boundaries of Columbus Park were from Main Street to Woodland Avenue and from third to eighth Street — encompassing a large area of the City. The area has slowly shrunk due to the construction of major highways and bridges like Interstate 29 and the Paseo Bridge.

This film is directed by Toni Sgaraglino-Farina and written by Toni DeLuca-Rinella and Valet. All three will be producing the project.

While this film is currently shooting, they are still gathering photographs, videos and interviewees to document as well as donations and sponsors. Any information relevant to the film can be shared at 816-807-7048 or via email at TheNeighborhood@KCItalians.com.