Kessler Park Conservancy Puts Master Improvement Plan in Motion

Maple Boulevard, which will be closed to traffic until Monday, April 14 for the installment of a roundabout at Missouri Avenue and Maple Boulevard intersection. | Photo by Julia Williams

Julia Williams

Editor-in-Chief

The three-phase plan created over a year ago by Christina Hoxie and Hoxie Collective LLC for the improvement and security of Northeast’s Kessler Park — originally constructed in 1920 as North Terrace Park and renamed “Kessler Park” in 1971 — has begun to see implementation.

While the Hoxie Collective’s Master Improvement Plan proposal was approved by the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department board in July 2024, allocated funding did not accompany this proposal. This led Northeast residents from Scarritt Renaissance, Pendleton Heights and Indian Mound neighborhoods to found the Kessler Park Conservancy to obtain public and private funds for executing improvements, Jerusalem Farm Co-Founder and Project Director Jordan Schiele shared in an interview, Friday.

While the Conservancy is still working to obtain funds for the seven recreational grounds and spanning 303 acres of Kessler Park improvements — which were included within the original master-plan proposal — Schiele said funding has been secured for North Terrace Park Lake (2700 Cliff Dr.) improvements.

North Terrace Park Lake

The Parks and Recreation Department anticipates construction to occur throughout at least the next year and developments within this location will include sidewalk repairs and additional parking spaces, among others.

Improvements for North Terrace Park Lake — locally referred to as “Green Lake” — were selected by the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department as well as the Missouri Department of Conservation and Confluence Landscape Architecture following public engagement sessions, which were held by the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department throughout 2024.

**North Terrace Park, “Green Lake,” at 2700 Cliff Dr. | Photo by Julia Williams**

Schiele said the Conservancy has additionally applied for funding through the Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC). If approved, Schiele shared, this funding would be allocated toward gates and entrances surrounding Kessler Park.

Currently, there are four access points to this park within the Pendleton Heights neighborhood — including near the Reservoir and Disk Golf Course — and if funding is approved through PIAC, gates would be implemented at these entrances and exits.

“The goal is to close the park off ‘after hours’ and to limit illegal activity,” Schiele said in an interview, Friday.

Current progress

Since the plan was approved, the Conservancy has worked to implement improvements in a few different locations throughout Kessler Park.

Of these includes Goat Local — Jerusalem Farm’s Kessler Park grazing goats — which the catholic-based nonprofit worked to obtain in 2023 through a GoFundMe page. Throughout the past two years, this goat herd has chewed its way through invasive plant species that continue to grow along Cliff Drive entrances 1 and 2. Along with these goats, the Parks Department has performed control burns within these areas to restore its native environment and omit invasive species, which have grown over time.

Within Maple Park (1832 E. Missouri Ave.), the Conservancy has completed a walking path, with over 50 fruit trees, that loops around the Pendleton Heights Community Orchard (2617 Lexington Ave). Schiele said they have additionally implemented sports courts within Maple Park including one volleyball court and two Sepak Takraw courts — a sport, which originated in Malaysia, that involves a player utilizing their feet to kick a ball over the net — which remains popular among Northeast’s Burmese community.

**A walking path, which was implemented in Maple Park as part of the Kessler Park Master Improvement plan. | Photo by Julia Williams**

**Maple Park’s volleyball court, which is located next to two Sepak Takraw courts and a set of previously existing soccer fields. | Photo by Julia Williams**

**Over 50 fruit trees were planted and now line a walking path that loops around the Pendleton Heights Community Orchard. | Photo by Julia Williams**

Beginning on Monday, April 7, the intersection of Maple Boulevard and Missouri Avenue will be closed to traffic as construction crews work to build a roundabout within this location as another Kessler Park Improvement Implementation to reduce car activity and increase safety.

While construction begins on Monday, this intersection will remain closed to traffic until Monday, April 14 to allow for poured concrete to cure.

**Construction crews work to build a roundabout at the Maple Boulevard and Missouri Avenue intersection on Tuesday, April 8. | Photo by Julia Williams**

The Conservancy has submitted two additional PIAC grants for Kessler Park improvement implementations: one for additional lighting at Indian Mound’s Gate 4 and one for a dog park.

While a dog park location within Kessler Park has not been selected at this time, Schiele said the Conservancy has identified six potential locations throughout the park where one could be placed.

These improvements and implementations are currently contingent on receiving funds from PIAC grants. And though Schiele said proper applications were submitted, if PIAC funding is approved, those funds may not be received until 2026.

However, he emphasized that Kessler Park improvements and the Master Plan implementation remains a community engagement process, and it is that neighborhood involvement, which Schiele shared, that has driven him through this project.

“We all can come together as a unified voice for the parks, which touch all our lives,” Schiele said in an interview, Friday. “The parks are always listed as the number one location people go to when they’re not at work or home; We want to make sure it’s safe and enjoyable for everyone.”

For additional information on the Kessler Park Master Improvement Plan or the Kessler Park Conservancy, visit: https://www.hoxiecollective.com/kessler-park-improvement-plan or https://www.facebook.com/kesslerparkcliffdrive/.

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