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On Thursday afternoon I met up with Brandon Ellington, newly elected Missouri State House Representative for the 41st District which includes the East Side of Kansas City Missouri. It has some boundary overlap with the KCMO Third City Council District. We rode around and did a photo tour of some of the blighted areas. In some cases there are even good houses selling so cheap on the east side that a renter west of Troost or Main could own their own domicile east of Troost.
Intersection 1.
Intersection 2.
Horace Mann School off of 71 Highway in ruins.
Sometimes No Dumping signs have the oppposite effect.
Holy Name Church Demolition in progress at 23rd and Benton Boulevard. See photoblog post from January about Holy Name Church.
Fence over railways on the East Side.
Brandon says he remembers this building being vacant since he was a kid.
Buildings near 23rd and Waldron.
Seventies era apartment complex left abandoned and open to the elements. Similar apartment complex designs in northeastern Johnson County from the same time were more fortunate.
Quick snap of Brandon standing in a part of the MO 41st District.
Holy Name Church at 23rd and Benton, Pre-Demolition
We have the Holy Name Church at 23rd and Benton Boulevard on Kansas City’s east side, now facing imminent demolition with the owner of the old church building telling a judge he will indeed foot the bill for its demolition instead of the city.
Construction on this old church began in 1911 but wasn’t completed until the late 20s. The historical significance of the church as it aligns with Kansas City’s place in American history (MLK’s assassination and the Kansas City riots of 1968) can be detailed at this blog posting, and also a good write up of the situation as this pertains to Kansas City’s present situation in preservation of the built environment can be seen at a forum I used to visit, in the first post of this thread (click here). Hat tip to a contact there who got in touch with me over getting this shot before they knock down this old Gothic-style building. Also seen at Tony’s Kansas City and The Kansas City Star.
You could say there’s a slight bit of irony in the old church sitting across the street now from residential infill houses that when viewed out of context, would make you think you were in one of the suburbs like Lenexa or Blue Springs – as evidenced by the late-80s looking split-level house to the far right in the background of the photo.
Photo from evening of Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 23rd and Benton Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri.