By Michaela Bishop
Northeast News
August 3, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – After spending years as a pillar of blight in the community, the former Manchester School has now officially said goodbye to the Northeast. The former KCPS facility – ravaged by vandalism and neglect – was one of the first publicly-owned buildings targeted for demolition as part of the city’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program, which has earmarked $10 million to tear down roughly 800 dangerous buildings over the next two years.

Structure fires in 2011 and 2015 further damaged the integrity of the structure. Bob Storck, a resident of the Blue Valley neighborhood, saw the disheveled remains of the former Manchester school as a “terrible waste of a nice structure.” He believes that another landmark can be brought in to take the place of the building, while also serving a need in the community. Storck mentioned a new neighborhood grocery store as one potential use for the space that could benefit residents of the surrounding community. Regardless of what becomes of the lot at 6839 E. Truman Rd., Storck believes it will be an improvement.

“Before and after the fire, the building was a terrible neighborhood eyesore,” Storck said.

Citizens of the Northeast are somewhat torn about this change to the area. Past students of the Manchester School are reminded of memories from their experiences at Manchester. Although the structure has been standing for no certain purpose over the past 10 years, past students are still pretty beat up that there will eventually be no landmark there to offer a sense of nostalgia.

Brandy Olivarez, a former student at Manchester, sees the school as an important part of her childhood. Olivarez and her sisters, as well as her mother, attended Manchester in their youth. Olivarez told theNortheast Newsthat she sees renovating the building as a better idea than tearing the building down altogether.

“The school stayed strong for a long time,” Olivarez said. “I witnessed a lot of bad things happening to the school, such as graffiti, crimes around the school, etc.”

Olivarez added that the location has become increasingly blighted as the former school has stood dormant over the years.

Olivarez is not the only one who will miss this structure. Deonna Garrison-Bashir also has fond memories of the school. Specifically, she still maintains warm feelings about her kindergarten teacher, known before her marriage as Ms. Leach. She recalls that Ms. Leach was extremely popular while Garrison-Bashir was in her formative years at Manchester in the early 1970s.

“She was the best and everyone for years requested her for their kids. All the teachers had patience and taught us well,” said Garrison-Bashir. “My best memory, though, is making friends: this is where it all began for me and everyone else who went here.”

Still, Garrison-Bashir added that she was in favor of tearing the structure down and just letting the former Manchester School live on through her memories.

“Even though it is sad, it is best for the state it’s in to come down,” Bashir said. “It is an eye sore and could hurt someone.”

Manchester has been vandalized multiple times in recent history, including a pair of dangerous fires in the past several years. As the building’s integrity continued to erode, the likelihood of someone stepping up to salvage the building continuously decreased. By the time the structure fell into the city’s Land Bank, it was only a matter of time before it would be flagged for demolition.

Despite the sad state of Manchester’s final days, the memories students keep of this school will live on forever. With the blighted structure now finally wiped from the sightline off of Truman Road, the door has once again cracked open for new, positive memories to emanate from the property.