The old Metro Patrol Division station at 1880 E. 63rd St. will soon be no more. Our goal is to have the building demolished by the end of the year. Built in 1977, it was in such poor condition that the cost to repair the building would have been well more than it is worth. Even if we were to use it as a storage facility, the leaks are so bad that the roof would need repair – which would be another large cost. I’ve heard from several people that the roof has leaked there since the grand opening of the building 33 years ago.
The old station has been vacant since June, when we opened the new station at 7601 Prospect Ave. But we didn’t forget about it. Inside every Kansas City Police facility is a bronze plaque stating when it was constructed, by whom, and who was on the Board of Police Commissioners and City Council at the time. We took that plaque out of the old Metro Station and installed it in the new building. I know the old station had a lot of sentimental value to many people, and we wanted to preserve it in some manner.
Demolition already is underway. The property is being abated right now as crews remove anything that requires special handling – like the fuel tanks that are there. Then, our goal is to have the building demolished and the site cleared by Dec. 31.
The future of the 1.5-acre site hasn’t been decided. It sits adjacent to the city’s Daniel Morgan Boone Park and is next to the burial site of the man for whom the park is named – the third son of legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone. So it has some historical and recreational value. We’ll try to keep you up to date on what will become of it.
The good news is that all the buildings constructed under this current public safety sales tax and the extension just approved by voters are designed to last at least 50 years. Maintenance funding has been built into the tax, so these buildings will serve the people of this city for many decades to come.
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