Michael Bushnell
Publisher
 
Students from K-State’s College of Architecture, Planning, and Design presented development options for various high-profile locations in Northeast on Saturday, Feb. 15 at an interactive visioning session hosted by the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Students offered development concepts to a group of community stakeholders who were invited to offer input on the concepts and their relativity to the Historic Northeast community. 

The visioning session comes at a mid-point in the students’ school year which kicked off earlier in the fall.

Students met with historic preservation specialists and city planning officials who offered input on potential project locations and the impacts on the surrounding community.

Wendy Ornelas, professor at the College of Architecture, laid out the timeline for the student projects. 

“Last semester we started doing a lot of data-driven research to get a greater understanding of the Northeast community,” Ornelas said. “From that, each one of the 13 students this semester is designing their theoretical thesis to understand the process and the programmatic elements of their project as it relates to the neighborhood.”

Independence Plaza resident Cynthia Herrington expressed excitement about the projects presented. 

“I think it’s fantastic that their graduate architecture students are doing such a big overview of data for the neighborhood so that their projects are filled with real information instead of just facts and figures,” Herrington said while reviewing a concept drawing for the Hardesty Renaissance project at Independence and Hardesty Avenues. 

The Hardesty project has been stalled by a funding gap but remains on the radar of area planners given its size, scope, and potential impact on the community.

Indian Mound resident Missy Jones echoed Herrington’s sentiments with an added twist. 

“As a long-term resident of the suburbs, I feel a much stronger sense of community living here,” she said. 

The students will return during their finals week in May to present their completed projects to the community. 

The comments offered by community stakeholders will be factored into those projects.

To participate in this project, you can take a survey here.