A consensus is building on the Leawood City Council that if only one of the city’s two historic buildings can be repurposed, it should be the original fire station rather than the city’s first City Hall.
Leawood city councilmembers came away from a discussion Tuesday with several saying the fire station had more possibilities for a second use.
Compared with the costs of addressing the old city hall’s many problems, they said it made more sense to hang onto the fire station. They did not discuss the future of the city hall building in depth, although there was some talk of the challenges of moving it or preserving some architectural part of it.
The informal session was the latest in a series of discussions on what to do with the original city hall at 9615 Lee Boulevard and the fire station next to it. Both buildings were constructed in the 1950s, and both are now vacant except for some storage. The city hall became vacant in 1994, but the fire station was in use until a new fire station was opened in 2023 on adjoining land.
The conversation about the properties stretches back at least as far as 2008. Councilmembers re-engaged it last year with the idea of an eventual master plan outlining the city’s intentions for it. Mayor Marc Elkins stressed Tuesday that there’s no timeline for any construction.
The city council discussed questions posed by BBN Architects, which is helping write the master plan.
The city hall building was small even in its day. Although it is stable, inspections have found asbestos, mold, lead paint, water damage and wood rot. But the hurdle most talked about at the work session Tuesday was its basement.
Access to the basement is out of compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. If city officials anticipate having a basement available for storage, ADA compliance would be a necessity, councilmembers were told.
The architects presented estimates of how much it would cost to make the buildings habitable again. For the city hall with a basement, the estimate ranged from $1.3 million to about $1.5 million. Without the basement, the estimate ranged from $1.1 million to about $1.3 million.
Lorie Doolittle-Bowman of BBN Architects said she considered preserving an architectural piece of the building to incorporate into the plan as an alternative, but there were substantial difficulties to doing that that may be prohibitive.
The cost estimates for the fire station were $745,000 to $843,000 for a more open-air use and $809,000 to $914,000 for an enclosed use, which would be required to have restrooms.
Costs aside, there was also the question of how the city hall or fire station would be put to use.
Meeting space was one option. Some councilmembers lamented the lack of easily reserved space for various meetings. The Lodge and Vista at Ironwoods, the community center and the Wave meeting spaces each have drawbacks, they said. There’s space for meetings in the new fire station, but that becomes a problem when firefighters have a call and have to leave the building.
Councilmembers Debra Filla and Alan Sunkel advocated for an informal social gathering space for community groups and activities. They said residents indicated in a survey and at the city council that they want social use that is less formal than a meeting space.
Filla pressed for the addition of something like a cafe or ice cream shop where people could gather spur of the moment.
But Elkins and some other councilmembers were skeptical about how that would work. Elkins noted the 0.7 acres is zoned for residential, not commercial use, and it would be difficult to rezone such a small area for commercial.
Councilmember Sherrie Gayed said that could cause problems because the city would become a landlord leasing to the business, which could fail. Also it could encourage other business owners to try to spot zone for their businesses, she said.
Councilmember Lisa Harrison questioned whether it was the city’s job to provide that type of space.
“I think it’s interesting there’s an idea that the city is supposed to provide a great community space or this idea of a coffee shop because a handful of the people want it,” she said. “We frequently cannot do the things our neighbors want.”
Eventually, councilmembers began to agree that it might be best to concentrate on the possibilities for the fire station alone.
“It’s not financially feasible to preserve both of those buildings, perhaps neither,” said Councilmember Mary Larson. “If I’m going to pick a building, it’s going to be the fire station.”
Councilmember Steve Kaster, attending remotely, agreed.
“I love the old city hall. It’s beautiful, but the financial is just too high for the value we can get out of it,” he said. Councilmember Chuck Sipple added that the city hall space could become a park area, which residents have also wanted.
“Taking its footprint out of the equation, we get more swings and teeter totters and that kind of stuff for the kids in the neighborhood,” he said.
Filla said she still would like to see the city council think bigger on developing the area, as it has with I-Lan and Gezer parks.
“We can afford this if we choose to. The point to be made is, are we thinking big or are we thinking small? These are the only historic buildings we have in our city,” she said.
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