A former Parade Park resident is reflecting on life after selling a foreclosure and moving out

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Since Parade Park Homes took over the property in March, many residents have moved out as developers continue a three-phase redevelopment process.

In late September, the City Council of Kansas City, Missouri approved a $300 million, 1,084-unit redevelopment plan in partnership between Flaherty & Collins Properties and Twelfth Street Heritage Development Corporation.

signed on parade park.jpeg — A banner at the entrance to Parade Park Homes on Sunday, October 27.

KSHB 41’s Rachel Henderson I talked to a longtime resident Lynn Williams in March when the city purchased Parade Park from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“It was a community, I tell you. Really good community. And then the DAWG door appeared,” Williams laughed.

She has since moved to The Residences at Park 39 in Westport, but found the journey there wasn’t the easiest.

Henderson met with Williams at her sister/former neighbor’s new apartment, which is near Parade Park.

Lynn Williams.jpeg — Lynn Williams, former resident of Parade Park

“It was almost depressing at times because you really know you have to go, but you don’t know where you’re going,” Williams said.

Williams said many of the problems stem from residents taking longer to leave their apartments than was initially allowed.

According to Williams, other obstacles to the relocation process included some residences’ lack of knowledge about using HUD-approved tenant protection vouchers and residents being directed to “inappropriate” residences.

Williams was part of the first phase of the plan.

site plan for parade park.png — All three stages of the Parade Park redevelopment plan.

“I hope Phases 2 and 3 will be better,” she said.

At one point, Williams wrote a letter asking for more time beyond the Oct. 7 deadline. Williams said she moved out on October 10.

uhaul in parade park.jpeg — A U-Haul truck in front of the Parade Park branch on Sunday, October 27.

On October 27, residents were still moving out of their apartments in Parade Park.

“The majority of Parade Park residents are seniors,” Williams said. “And I’m talking about the 70s, 80s, 90s.”

She said the age range means some people may not return or be alive when the development happens in a few years.

The current plan includes 80 apartments for seniors and 200 apartments for low-income people.

Williams said she wasn’t sure if she would return after the move, even though former residents were given the right of first refusal when the new apartments were built.

Lynn points to the old apartment.jpeg — Lynn Williams points out her former unit at Parade Park Homes on Sunday, October 27.

“Packing and unpacking is hard,” Williams said. “The older you get, the worse it gets.”

But what about Parade Park’s legacy?

“I don’t care what they build there,” Williams said. – As far as I’m concerned, Parade Park is dead.

With only a few cars left in the driveways, broken sidings and boarded up windows, Williams described the current condition as “amazing.”

broken siding in parade park.jpeg — Damaged apartment siding at Parade Park Homes, October 27.

And since Williams is almost unrecognizable from the outside, he thinks the name should be changed too.

boarded up windows in pp.jpeg — The windows in Parade Park were boarded up on October 27.

“All the community that we had is now all over Kansas City or out of state and so on,” Williams said. “So we lost family, we lost friends.”

Williams doesn’t blame developers for the condition of the once historic Black-owned co-op. Instead she quoted tensions between the former management of the cooperative as the main problem.

“It was within our reach,” Williams said. “No one took that away from us.”

She said she has always been a supporter of redevelopment, but knows the history of the area she once recognized is slowly fading away.

“There will no longer be a Black community in that neighborhood at 18th and Vine streets,” she said. “It’ll be like Westport, it’ll be like Crossroads.”

Despite the difficulties, Williams explained the lesson she learned from her experience.

“Watch your boards, watch your co-ops, your homeowners associations, your neighborhood associations,” she said.

When it comes to preserving history, Williams believes in the power of oral storytelling. She is also a supporter of participating in history instead of watching it.

“I don’t want to come when the project is finished; I want to come and see the project,” Williams said. “Stick to the point. Be a part of it. Never give up. Never throw in the towel.”

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KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.