Dorri Partain 
Managing Editor  

An ordinance sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas and Third District Councilpersons Melissa Robinson and Melissa Patterson Hazley, introduced to Kansas City’s City Council the process to sell vacant parcels at the intersection of The Paseo and Independence Avenue to the State of Missouri.

City Council voted to pass Ordinance #240691 during its weekly legislative session on Thursday, Aug. 15. This ordinance outlines the process the City Manager will undertake for the sale of properties addressed at 533 Tracy, 1408 and 1200 Independence Ave., for construction of a new Missouri State behavioral health facility. The council vote was unanimous.

In advance of the council session, a community meeting was held   Aug. 12, at Kansas City University’s (KCU) Butterworth Conference Center. Valerie Huhn, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and Sharon Freese, chief operating officer with University Health’s Behavioral Health department, outlined this proposed facility’s goals and functions. Brian Yansen — director with the state’s Division of Facilities Management Design and Construction — answered questions about the facility’s design, construction and landscape elements.

Attendees ranged from neighborhood leaders to business owners — ready to pose questions ranging from why this location was considered optimal to what type of services would be provided. Many attending voiced the concern that the Northeast already has its share of care facilities and that they would prefer developments, which better fit the community’s needs as a whole.

This session concluded with remarks from Ingrid Burnett, House of Representatives District 19, regarding the continued need for community engagement.

Prior to the council vote last Thursday, Third District Councilwoman Melissa Robinson addressed the council.

“I am in support of this ordinance. I know there have been community discussions about neighborhood cohesion and I have assured them that we as a city and we as a council will continue to be in conversations with the Northeast community to ensure neighborhood cohesion. As we talk about the low-barrier shelter and those services we will revisit the discussion about when we put those services in a community it does have an impact on the surrounding neighborhoods and residents. This is a first step but I hope we continue to be engaged, as this facility is needed. I appreciate the leadership that has gotten us this far but we cannot forget about the Northeast community and we cannot forget that we need to be responsive to their needs, and that we’re here to listen, to have empathy, but also to act.”

Robinson did not attend the Aug. 12 community meeting.

This proposed facility will house 200 patients  referred to the facility by the Department of Mental Health, which will operate the facility in conjunction with University Health. Both providers currently operate facilities in the Hospital Hill area of Kansas City but require additional space to fully care for those with behavioral health needs.

The 15-acre site the state has been approved to acquire has remained vacant since 2020 — when final debris from Chouteau Court public housing demolition was removed. Total acreage sought includes former parkland known as Belvidere Park. Voters approved decommissioning the park during a November 2019 election.

The State of Missouri will provide $300 million in funding for the site and facility construction. Proposed designs are similar to a facility the state operates in Fulton, Mo.

Once fully staffed, this facility could provide 600 jobs of various skill sets. Following construction, the facility may open in late 2027 or early 2028.