Northeast News
November 17, 2011

Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) are continuing to engage the community on repurposing strategies for the district’s 30 shuttered schools.

To balance the budget and pool resources, the district closed the schools as part of its “right-sizing” initiative in 2009 and 2010.

One of the shuttered schools is Thacher, located at 5008 Independence Ave. in the Indian Mound neighborhood. Built in the early 1900s, the building spans 34,100 square-feet and is three stories tall. In January of 2010, a fire damaged the 1914 addition.

Possible reuses for Thacher will be discussed during a public meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the North-East Public Library, 6000 Wilson Rd., Kansas City, Mo.

The KCPS technical team will be on hand to report its reuse assessment for the site and share the community’s ideas for the building, which were discussed at a previous tour.

“It is imperative that you and others interested in the future of Thacher come and share your feedback,” a KCPS press release said. “You will have the opportunity to directly influence how the district moves forward in soliciting and evaluating reuse proposals.”

KCPS will continue to host public meetings on the shuttered school sites through November. Once the meetings are completed, reuse strategies and action plans will be submitted to the KCPS Board of Education for approval.