ORDINANCE NO. 260064
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Sponsor: Mayor Quinton Lucas
Authorizing the City and the Parks and Recreation Department to enter into a Kansas City Riverfront Park Lease Agreement with the Port Authority of Kansas City for the purpose of furthering the development and maintenance of additional recreational space on the Kansas City Riverfront.
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WHEREAS, the City of Kansas City began the development of Riverfront Park in 1965, when its Parks Superintendent Frank Vaydik initiated a plan for a park spanning over 3 square miles along the length of the Missouri River from approximately N. Olive Street on the west to the mouth of the Blue River on the east; and
WHEREAS, the City of Kansas City opened Area I of Riverfront Park in 1967, bounded by N. Olive Street on the west and N. Chouteau Trafficway on the east, which featured baseball fields, picnic areas, and later a boat ramp; and
WHEREAS, Riverfront Park stood to be one of the nation's premier city parks, with development anticipated throughout its Area II, bounded by N. Chouteau Trafficway on the west and I-435 Bridge on the east, and its Area III, bounded by I-435 Bridge on the west and Harry S. Truman Bridge on the east; and
WHEREAS, environmental concerns led to the closure of Riverfront Park in 1985, rooted in the Park's prior use as a landfill, before the development of parks space in Areas I and II; and
WHEREAS, the environmental concerns leading to the closure of Riverfront Park in 1985 have since been remediated; and
WHEREAS, the City of Kansas City, in coordination with the Parks and Recreation Department and the Port Authority of Kansas City, seeks to facilitate plans for the phased restoration and development of Riverfront Park, revitalizing ambitious plans for the site as one of America's premier parks in the heart and birthplace of Kansas City, on the Missouri River; and
WHEREAS, a lease agreement between the Cit...
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