The Johnson County Park Board Wednesday approved funding for a new building to replace the Meadowbrook Country Club clubhouse after a long and divisive session that saw several proposals fail.
The building that was eventually approved was scaled down from the original proposal to get the votes needed to pass. Two of the board members were adamant that for them to support a new building proposal, Prairie Village would need to contribute money. Both voted against plan that was ultimately adopted.
Even after a motion to include $3.8 million for the building passed, the board was confused about the exact contents of the motion and what it meant for the building.
Prairie Village City Administrator Quinn Bennion told the board that the Prairie Village City Council had voted unanimously on a resolution expressing its desire to have an activity center on the site. He indicated the public had been led to believe the clubhouse was going to stay. “There were statements that led people to believe the clubhouse was remaining,” he told the board.
Prairie Village orchestrated nearly $20 million in bonds for the purchase of the park land and initial construction. If a Tax Increment Financing district should fail to produce sufficient revenue, the city would be on the hook for several million dollars. “They (Prairie Village) have done their part to make this happen,” board chair Paul Snider said.
County park board member Nancy Wallerstein, who lives in Prairie Village, reminded her fellow board members that Meadowbrook will be a county park, not a city park, and of the city’s already extensive role in making it a reality. At an earlier meeting with the park board and county commissioners, Bennion handed over a ceremonial deed to the park department, marking the sale of the bonds by the city this week and the purchase of the land for the park.
Meadowbrook sits in the far southwest corner of Prairie Village with Overland Park bordering two sides and Leawood just blocks away. Wallerstein noted the site’s appeal to residents of several northeast Johnson County cities in lobbying against efforts to get the city to contribute funds for a new activity center. “I think it unfair for a county park, just because it is sitting in Prairie Village … to ask them to give us money,” Wallerstein said.
Board members Steven Baru and Michael Pirner both voted against Wallerstein’s initial motion that would have included a $5 million building of 12,750 square feet to host a variety of programs. Park district staff estimated the programming in the building could generate $56,000 in profit each year. Saving the existing clubhouse was never an option considered seriously Wednesday due to the age of the building and the cost of rehabbing it and making it ADA compliant. Wallerstein’s initial motion failed on a 4-4 tie vote.
A series of other motions for a smaller building or no building also failed to get a majority in the hours-long debate. Each of the proposals had a variety of other park amenities including trails, nature play areas, pickle ball courts and restrooms. The money would come from park bonds.
“If you come up with something that asks Prairie Village for money, I could vote for it,” Baru said. At one point Pirner suggested asking Prairie Village to put in $1.25 million on the building.
The motion that passed included spending $8 million from bonds with $3.8 million dedicated to the new building, perhaps leaving part of the basement unfinished, but using any leftover contingency funds for the completion. It also added a grand pavilion, senior citizen fitness area and a garden area to the other list of park amenities that the bond would finance.
After the vote, Bennion said he was satisfied with the outcome. At the earlier county commissioners joint meeting, Commissioner Ron Shaffer, former Prairie Village mayor, said the citizens of Prairie Village are “expecting some sort of amenity there. (It) was sold that way.”
