Merriam is razing three more downtown buildings as part of its broader flood control efforts along Turkey Creek.
The Merriam City Council earlier this month approved the demolition of three buildings, all currently unoccupied, along Merriam Drive next to the city’s farmers market pavilion.
City officials cite flood mitigation or potential redevelopment efforts in its downtown stretch as the reasoning behind demolishing the buildings at 5700, 5718 and 5726 Merriam Drive.
The buildings include the former Baker’s Marble building at 5718 Merriam Drive and the former Electronic Technology Institute space at 5700 Merriam Drive.
In the past few years, the city has purchased multiple downtown properties and demolished some of those buildings already, as officials continue to prepare for the possibility of even more extensive flood mitigation efforts as well as future opportunities for redevelopment.
Latest demos cost up to $135K
The city council voted 7-0 on July 14 to approve up to $135,000 for a contract with Midland Wrecking to demolish the three buildings. Councilmember Whitney Yadrich was absent.
City Administrator Chris Engel told the city council that the properties are all in a row and are immediately to the north of the Merriam Marketplace pavilion.
The properties, he said, are likely going to be necessary to make room for flood management efforts along Turkey Creek, including possibly building earthen berms along the creek or razing more buildings in order to elevate the area out of the floodplain. (Coincidentally, a few days after July’s city council meeting, Turkey Creek spilled over its banks for the first time in two decades following a torrential downpour.)
“Those properties will either be needed for some sort of future floodplain mitigation or perhaps some sort of redevelopment,” Engel said, adding that potential redevelopment could be for commercial or public uses.
If the city moves forward with the Army Corps’ plans to reduce flood risks in downtown Merriam and these properties are needed as part of that plan, then the Army Corps will eventually reimburse the city the cost of buying and demolishing the buildings, Engel said.
Councilmember Reuben Cozmyer said that whether these properties are needed for flood mitigation, he sees benefits to adding “usable open space” so close to city-owned property like the marketplace.
Cozmyer said a common flood mitigation tactic is to buy at-risk properties, such as these three Merriam Drive properties.
“Using them as open space adjacent to the marketplace is a great way to both reduce risk in Merriam and provide amenities,” Cozmyer said.
A look at other recent city-owned property demolitions
Engel told the city council on July 14 that Midland Wrecking is the same company the city hired to demolish other city-owned properties like the former Antioch Library building at Antioch Road and Shawnee Mission Parkway.
Midland demolished that structure to make way for a redevelopment that plans to bring a Trader Joe’s to the busy corridor.
Additionally, Engel said Midland recently demolished other downtown Merriam properties that the city purchased in the past several years, including 5001 Merriam Drive.
Engel assured the city council that staff plans to work with Midland on phasing the demolition of the three buildings to avoid conflict with downtown events.
Larger flood mitigation efforts are underway
Merriam is still working on a Upper Turkey Creek flood mitigation project with the Army Corps of Engineers. Right now, the city and Army Corps are determining whether a 2015 plan is still relevant.
The goal of that Army Corps plan would be to preserve as much of the existing downtown Merriam as possible, though the need to possibly elevate the Johnson and Merriam Drive bridges and realign part of Merriam Drive may displace existing businesses.
The city is simultaneously considering a separate partnership with local engineering firm HNTB for downtown flood mitigation.
HNTB’s early proposals call for the displacement of all historic downtown businesses, which runs roughly between the Johnson and Merriam Drive bridges.
No firm decisions have been made as to which partner — the Army Corps or HNTB — Merriam is going to choose.
Keep reading local government news: 2 bridges in downtown Merriam could be replaced for flood control project
