Country Club Plaza: What’s Next?

I’ve been visiting the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri for much of my life. I’ve witnessed the district undergo so many changes, from the department store that evolved into Seville Square Mall, to witnessing the 1977 Plaza flood. My father took me to the Putch’s sidewalk cafe as a little kid. I’ve watched movies there, hung out with friends, attended art fairs, watched the Christmas lights get turned on, and patronized many restaurants. The Country Club Plaza is a beloved core part of Kansas City, but it is also shunned, disliked, and avoided.

With new ownership of the private historic district, Highland Park Village Partners, the city and community are talking about what the Country Club Plaza could be for Kansas Citians going forward. As a food critic, user of the Plaza, artist that makes art about the Plaza, and son of a former Kansas City urban planner, let me share my thoughts about the future of The Plaza (pronounced Plaaa-za).

Focus on Locally Owned Businesses and Restaurants

This is one of the most popular requests whenever the topic of the Country Club Plaza is discussed on social media. The district’s retail and dining have been dominated by corporate chains for decades. While the architectural flavor of The Plaza stayed unchanged and local restaurants were sprinkled around the district, the chains gave it the flavor of Anytown, USA. If your city has a unique cultural asset and social hub, especially one that is always promoted to tourists, it’s in the best interests of the city to keep that node unique, special, and local.

As late as the 1980s, the Plaza was still dominated by local retail shops and restaurants. It even had an indoor mall, Seville Square, which had smaller shops, a few chain stores, and movie theaters. You could shop at retail stores, have dinner at a restaurant like the Plaza III, and catch the annual art fair or a concert in Brush Creek.

The new owners need to establish a target ratio for local versus chains. People want more local retail and locally owned restaurants. Sure, keep the Cheesecake Factory, as that is a popular destination with the unique atmosphere. We all like Barnes and Noble and the Apple store. But let’s make local businesses a priority.

Security

This is a main concern that Kansas Citians express when the topic of the Plaza comes up. This needs to be addressed, for actually public safety reasons and to dispel perceptions that the district is totally unsafe (it’s nowhere near that). Way too many restaurants and restaurant districts suffer from unfair and ungrounded rumors about security and crime.

Thousands of people patronize restaurants and attractions in the Plaza, Westport, and downtown KCMO, every night, without any issues. But things could be better.

If the new owners of the Plaza and the City of KCMO are going to revamp the security of the Plaza, what should they do? Throwing more officers, both public and private, might seem like an obvious solution, but that will cause more problems. Maybe the Country Club Plaza security is understaffed? The current security arrangements need to be audited and the data should used to determine how many security people could be added. Where and when do more security people need to be added? During peak dining hours? How about during the hours when restaurant workers are getting off work? I will talk about after hours security for restaurant workers in a future post.

There should be an effort to look at passive ways to improve security and perceptions about safety. How does the Plaza encourage more people to be walking around on sidewalks in the evenings? More eyes on the street, as they say. What can they do to encourage restaurant diners and shoppers to walk around, instead of just driving to a parking garage, dining, and then leaving the district immediately?

Which brings us to teenagers. I have a book on the back burner about Kansas City, which has a chapter on the history of this subject. Panic over teenager groups acting out in Westport and The Plaza. It can be a problem, but it is by no means a nightly or even weekly problem. But here’s the thing, how do we want to encourage teens to enjoy districts like the plaza, play by the rules to keep everybody safe, without demonizing them as a class of people? How do we address this problem smartly, instead of just throwing policing at it? Of course, professional security people can defuse and address a rowdy group of teens, but how do we prevent it from reaching that point?

Teenagers and young people have been hanging out in the Plaza for decades. I’ve been going there for 50 years. I can recall what it was like there as a teenager in the early 1980s. Going to the movies with friends. Hanging out at the McDonalds. Meeting up with friends at the Thanksgiving eve lighting ceremony. Teenagers like to hang out with friends in social settings. The Country Club Plaza is, after all, a large, historic outdoor mall.

While we have to tolerate the fact that groups of teenagers are going to be loud and boisterous, like they’ve long been, what are some ways to prevent more dangerous behaviors? Does the Plaza need more teen-centric venues and attractions? Does Kansas City in general, even the metro area, need to build and support safe third spaces for teenagers?

Farmer’s Market

This is one of the more interesting proposals that I’ve read in social media lately. Adding a farmer’s market to the Plaza. If done right, this would bring many more people, daily, into the district. This would be a good way to add a more “buy vocal” vibe. It would help farmers and small foodie entrepreneurs. It would provide more food options in the “food desert” that is Midtown Kansas City. The CCP has good public transit connections which make it possible for Midtown residents to shop at a farmer’s market.

Where to put it? What should it look like? The obvious spot right now is the smoking crater on the west end of the Country Club Plaza, where they tore down the parking garages to make room for a Nordstrom’s. How about replicating the layout of the City Market, with a central farmer’s market with awnings and a periphery of incubator food spaces for chefs, food trucks, and new concepts? Maybe something along the lines of the Iron District in North Kansas City? Or something like Strang Hall in Overland Park.

Another “open” spot is the tennis club on the east side of the CCP, whose future is in limbo. I talk about why I oppose getting rid of the club below. But if the new owner’s decide to remove the tennis courts and club, this are would be the right size for a farmer’s market. It also would be a block away from the streetcar stop. Prime location for people using public transit.

If the new owners are planning to expand some of the buildings on blocks upward, another farmers market option could be an indoor market. Like Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market or Baltimore’s Lexington Market.

Connection With the New Streetcar Extension

The new Main Street extension of the KC Streetcar opens in 2025, with a stop on the Country Club Plaza. A brief skim of the project websites plans and proposals finds that lots of planning has gone into streetscape and safety upgrades along the new route. I couldn’t find anything about the Plaza stop, but looked at the plans for the intersection of Main Street and Linwood. I recently drove by the Plaza station, which is mostly built. Should be open in a few months?

Keep the Tennis Club

There was some talk in 2024 about getting rid of the Plaza Tennis Center on the east side of the Plaza. The alternative suggested were fairly nebulous. A new building? Park? High rise development? The tennis club has been part of the Country Club Plaza district for generations of Kansas Citians. People are still using the tennis center. It provides a recreational and exercise use for the Plaza. It also provides an open space on the east side which aids in showing off the architecture of the district. And the holiday lights.

Prohibit New Large Buildings Out of Character With the District

The Plaza has had large buildings bordering the district for decades, especially the apartment towers on the south side of Brush Creek and the Alameda Plaza hotel. A walkable, urban retail district like the Plaza is going to attract new development around the perimeter. It’s a positive for Kansas City to have more apartments. The last 25 years has seen more high rises being built along the north side of the district.

The district can benefit from new buildings around the perimeter, but the character and uniqueness of the district is changed when large buildings are allowed in the footprint of the district. We recently saw what happened with the aborted Nordstrom project. The Country Club Plaza is a treasured, unique part of Kansas City, so building types need to be more carefully planned and regulated.

Increase Number of Events

The Country Club Plaza has long been known for its large signature events like the annual Plaza Art Fair, the Christmas lighting ceremony, and the free concerts in the old Brush Creek concrete drainage basin. How about more smaller events and cultural performances on a daily basis (during warmer weather)? I’m talking here about musicians performing in public spaces. Dancers. Plein air artists.

These wouldn’t be events that require closing down streets. If a public market were built where the Nordstrom project was supposed to get built, why not have a small stage or amphitheater?

Small Grocery Store

Midtown Kansas City, Missouri has long had a problem with being a food desert. I know, I’ve lived in various houses and apartments around Midtown. Including a house off of 47th Street in the West Plaza neighborhood. With more apartment towers and complexes being built around the Plaza (a welcome development), there needs to be a small grocery store or two. It doesn’t even have to be the size of Trader Joe’s or Aldi. Grocery stores would add an important amenity to neighborhood residents and improve the walkability.

Plaza Lights Museum

Has there ever been a museum in the Plaza district about the history of the district? Is it time to have a small space dedicated to the history of the district and the annual lighting display? Given that every piece promoting attractions around Kansas City mention the Plaza and the holiday lights, wouldn’t it be cool to have something for the tourists?

District Directory Signage

This is a more minor thing, but traditional indoor shopping malls always had a kiosk display that provided a map of the mall and a directory of stores. How about doing an updated version of this for the Plaza? You could do this with an interactive LED display.

New Owner Plans

The owners have already implemented changes and improvements since their purchase of the district in the summer of 2024. The city of KCMO has announced that it is applying for federal grants to build more pedestrian bridges across Brush Creek. There have been clean-ups of the creek corridor.

• Farmers’ market, more fountains, grocery store among plans for new Plaza ownership

Photos: Chuck Munson