Merriam city leaders are assessing whether to tear down its entire historic downtown as it mulls new flood risk management plans for Turkey Creek nearby.
For nearly 25 years, the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been working on flood risk mitigation efforts along Turkey Creek, which runs along the border of the downtown area.
Two new solutions on the table from an outside engineering firm — which the Merriam City Council first saw last month — would require demolishing all the row-style buildings and stand-alone structures in the historic stretch of downtown and then raising the land out of the floodplain.
The project area at risk of full demolition is just one slice of the city’s largely industrial downtown, which is also home to small businesses, such as restaurants and musical instrument shops.
Still, several of those small businesses would be displaced if the city razes more than a dozen buildings, many of which were constructed in the early 20th century. The area in question runs roughly between the Johnson Drive and Merriam Drive bridges and includes the Merriam Marketplace and the site of the former Irene B. French Community Center.
For Rick Williams, a downtown business owner, the prospect of demolishing that downtown stretch jeopardizes what he sees as a unique collection of small businesses.
Owner of a longtime musical instrument accessory store, Williams thinks the flood risk mitigation efforts are becoming part of a larger plan to eventually oust businesses like his in order to remake downtown.
“People have been trying to throw this part of town out for a long time, but it’s managed to survive,” Williams said. “I think there are smarter things to do with money than evict people at a great expense to turn it into a gentrified area.”
An Army Corps plan, which would leave most of historic downtown alone but may still displace some businesses, is still on the table. But if the city council instead goes with one of the newly presented alternatives, said City Administrator Chris Engel, then it could potentially open up the area for redevelopment, albeit at the cost of displacing local businesses.
“It’s gonna be hard, and not doing anything is probably not an option either,” Engel said.
How did we get here?
Although Upper Turkey Creek in downtown Merriam remains in a flood zone, water hasn’t left its banks since a deadly flash flood in 1998. Before then, it used to flood several times a decade, and local businesses still pay for federal flood insurance.
The Turkey Creek watershed in northeast Johnson County is “entirely urbanized” and has been fully developed since the 1950s and ‘60s, according to a Johnson County watershed master plan.
Downtown Merriam’s relatively flat terrain made it a key target for transportation infrastructure since the 19th century, according to the master plan. Interstate 35 and railroad tracks pass nearby, and developers equipped the area for a variety of industrial, commercial and residential uses.
The result? All that development along Turkey Creek has led to significant changes and degradation, channel straightening to realign and follow I-35, overbank filling and concrete lining, and other impacts.
Today, downtown Merriam has the highest number of potential flooding locations — 77 — of any project area in Watershed 1, which covers Turkey and Brush creeks in northeast Johnson County, according to the county’s watershed master plan.
The next highest are two other project areas in Mission Hills and Prairie Village, both with 30 potential flooding locations.
Plus, downtown Merriam is the second-highest flood risk area for Watershed 1 in Johnson County, according to the county watershed master plan.
The area’s overall flood risk score of 4.86 (the highest is 5), means that it’s highly likely for the creek to erode toward and threaten nearby infrastructure. (See the master plan, starting on page 75 of 454, for more history on Turkey Creek’s flooding issues.)
Merriam can still go with the Army Corps’ decade-old plan, which mainly calls for building levees and berms while leaving most of the buildings downtown alone. In 2022, the city secured $24 million in federal funds for that plan. That same year, the project entered its design phase.
Once 35% of the design work is complete, Merriam will need to decide whether to commit to that project, potentially by this fall, according to a city memo. Construction could start two to three years later, said Melissa Corkill, a civil works branch chief with the Army Corps’ Kansas City district office.
With Merriam facing an imminent decision on the Army Corps’ project, City Administrator Engel said the city hired Kansas City-based engineering firm HNTB to come up with alternative solutions so the city council could make a more informed decision.
In the end, Engel said, the city council needs to decide how to weigh “competing solutions” for downtown Merriam’s flood risk mitigation efforts: The Army Corps project that aims to preserve most of downtown’s current makeup, or one of HNTB’s plans which could displace businesses while opening the door for more redevelopment.
“There is no easy decision for the council,” Engel said. “I’m very sympathetic to the decision they’re going to have to make.”
The Army Corps’ plan would leave most of downtown alone
Corkill, the Army Corps engineer, said there are two ways to reduce flood risks to an area: Build features like levees, flood walls and berms, or physically move a structure out of a floodplain.
The Army Corps is currently contracted with the city of Merriam on a design contract to build out a 2015 plan to reduce flood risks for Upper Turkey Creek. The goal of the plan is to get the area out of a 100-year floodplain, she said.
This roughly $38 million plan — measured in 2015 dollars — includes the building of levees and berms, utility relocations and road modifications, Corkill said. The 2015 plan may also displace some downtown Merriam businesses, as the plan itself shows the need to acquire at least a few buildings, at least one of which will need to be demolished.
When the plan was first conceived a decade ago, it was slated for a cost-share between the federal government and local entities. The federal government would pay for 65% of the project (that’s the $24 million Merriam secured in 2022), while the city and the Johnson County Stormwater Management Advisory Council would pay for the remaining 35%.
The updated project cost in today’s dollars is not yet publicly available, Corkill said.
“Since it’s been a while, we definitely want to update the plans, update our cost and make sure we’re headed in the right direction,” Corkill said.
Depending on updated cost estimates, the Army Corps may need to request additional federal funding, and City Administrator Engel said the Army Corps plan’s costs are already “ballooning.”
HNTB proposes displacing businesses, moving area out of floodplain
HNTB’s first option, dubbed “full-build”, proposes elevating the ground level by about 2.4 feet, which would bring the entire project area out of the 100-year floodplain, according to city documents. This option would create flood risk upstream, so it requires additional work in other parts of Turkey Creek, outside of Merriam.
The second option, dubbed “no-rise”, requires raising the land by 2 feet on the east side of Merriam Drive and slightly lowering the west side of the street and even further next to the creek. Under this second option, there is no impact upstream.
Cost estimates for both options are roughly $44-45 million, including in that figure about $22 million earmarked for property acquisition and demolition.
Other cost estimates still need to be determined as part of HNTB’s proposal, including reconstruction and realignment of the Merriam Drive bridge, utility relocation and property development.
The city council approved a $42,500 addendum to the HNTB contract to complete the second phase of the engineering firm’s work, which includes the creation of schematic examples and updated project costs, according to city documents.
Still, the city council has yet to make a final decision on which flood mitigation plan to go with.
“We love Merriam”
Flooding hasn’t been an issue for downtown Merriam businesses in more than a quarter century, and several business owners the Post spoke with are concerned about what the competing flood mitigation projects could mean for their livelihoods.
That is the case for Dave Carrel, who owns True Auto Parts and Paint at 5837 Merriam Drive and several other properties in downtown Merriam.
Carrel said he has been in downtown Merriam since he was 13, for more than half a century. These properties are his retirement plan, he said.
Anton Krutz, owner of KC Strings and KC Fret Shop, told the Post he understands wanting to invest in the beautification and development of downtown Merriam. That’s because he has experience with investing in the area himself.
In the 1990s, when Krutz bought the 1920s-era building at 5842 Merriam Drive, he said most of downtown Merriam was “boarded up.” Still, he was drawn to the area because his clientele comes from across the region, and downtown Merriam has great highway access, being right off of I-35.
Krutz and his team — which Williams said he was part of — invested close to $1 million (in today’s dollars) worth of updates. The custom-built instrument shop features handcrafted front doors, sound-proof lesson rooms and a space to host small concerts.
But the way Krutz sees it, a Turkey Creek flood mitigation project is more about transforming downtown Merriam’s commercial offerings than it is about reducing flood risks.
Krutz said that if the city moves forward with plans to remove buildings from historic downtown, then he hopes the city and businesses can negotiate and mutually agree upon property prices.
The only other avenue Krutz said he sees for the city acquiring properties for a flood mitigation project is through eminent domain (a legal process that allows government agencies to take private property for public use, so long as it provides “just compensation.”)
“It has to be an agreed upon process, and it can’t be where flood mitigation is used as the force to enable eminent domain; that’s unethical and illegal,” Krutz said.
He likes the Army Corps’ proposal, which features flood walls and berms that would likely need about 1 yard of grass behind several properties.
As far as tearing down all of historic downtown, Krutz said he hopes it doesn’t come to that, especially given KC Strings’ reputation and investment in the city.
“We love Merriam, we hope that we can be here as it grows and improves,” Krutz said, noting that he appreciates the city’s ongoing redevelopment of the Shawnee Mission Parkway corridor near Antioch Road where the site of an abandoned Kmart has been transformed into the Merriam Grand Station retail and residential area.
“I understand that the city has vision, and I applaud them for trying to do things, but it has to be in an ethical manner,” Krutz added.
Merriam: Residents want a transformed downtown
As the Upper Turkey Creek project sat on the backburner for federal funds, Engel said, the city started to discuss the future of its historic downtown.
Over the past several years, city-conducted resident surveys showed a desire to transform the area, Engel said.
Residents have responded positively to questions about revitalizing downtown, transforming it into something considerably different than what currently exists, protecting downtown from flooding and improving the appearance of downtown.
In addition, the city reimagined downtown in its 2020 comprehensive plan update, worked on Merriam Drive improvement ideas and has already purchased millions of dollars worth of property along Merriam Drive — making the city currently largest property holder in downtown.
Engel said the city believes it has a good grasp on what residents want to see happen downtown, but that might conflict with what downtown business owners want.
Before making a decision by the end of the year, the city council needs to take residents’ and business owners’ competing interests and determine what’s best for the community.
“That might mean that we have some people that might be impacted negatively for what the council will determine to be the greater good,” Engel said. “And we’re doing all of that with not perfect information. It’s not going to be easy.”
Engel said the city is planning public engagement opportunities for both residents and businesses as it pertains to Turkey Creek flood mitigation in downtown Merriam.
The city council is also likely to discuss this issue over the next several months in public meetings before deciding anything, he said.
