United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-259
November 1998
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Brownfields Showcase
Community
Kansas City, KS & MO
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is
complicated by real or perceived contamination. In May 1997, Vice President Gore announced a Brownfields National Partnership
to bring together the resources of more than 15 federal agencies to address local cleanup and reuse issues in a more coordinated
manner. This multi-agency partnership has pledged support to 16 "Brownfields Showcase Communities"models demonstrating
the benefits of collaborative activity on brownfields. The designated Brownfields Showcase Communities are distributed across
the country and vary by size, resources, and community type. A wide range of support will be leveraged, depending on the
particular needs of each Showcase Community.
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields National Partnership has selected
the Cities of Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO
as a Brownfields Showcase Community. The popu-
lation of the greater Kansas City metropolitan area
is 1,690,343. Many of the bi-state area's brownfields
sites have been identified in the federal Enhanced
Enterprise Community (EEC). The EEC has a popu-
lation of 49,399, some 68% of whom are African
American and 10% of
whom are Hispanic.
The area's poverty
rate is 39%, while un-
employment is 16.6%.
Community Profile
Kansas City,
Kansas & Missouri
The focus of the
cities' bi-state
brownfields efforts lie
within the Central
Industrial District
(CID), downtown, the
central business corridor, the central city
neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri; the riverside
areas of Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County;
and scattered areas known collectively as the
"Industrial Crescent." Site identification will be
conducted by the cities' economic development
corporations, commercial realtors, industry
representatives, federal databases, and property and
business owners, and will include properties
undergoing bankruptcy or foreclosure.
The cities have also formed several partnerships to
aid them in their efforts. The Kansas City District of
the Corps of Engineers has worked on past flood
control projects with Kansas City, and has proposed
a cost-share program to
assume 50% of the
brownfields assessment
costs in a brownfields
pilot program. Many of
the community groups
adding their support are
currently participating in
brownfields redevelop-
ment projects around the
metropolitan area. In
addition, by partnering
with each other, the cities formed the Kansas City
Bi-State Brownfields Initiative (KCBI) and were able
to receive an Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pi-
lot grant (the first bi-state award in the country).
Kansas City will build upon the
work of its Brownfields Initiative, a
coalition of community, industry,
andfederal and local government
representatives committed to
redevelopment of the bi-state
Central Industrial District. Among
the city's redevelopment projects
is the $234 million restoration of
ilstoric Union Station.
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CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
The Kansas City Showcase Community will con-
tinue to build upon the efforts of the KCBI and the
EPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
program. There are currently numerous other
brownfields redevelopment projects underway.
Highlights of the cities' brownfields redevelopment
programs include:
Partnering with the National Park Service through
its Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance
Program to build a riverfront "heritage trail";
Utilizing the Department of Housing and Urban
Development grants and secured loans totaling
$14.2million to help redevelop theoldest functioning
railroad roundhouse turntable in the United States
into the Westside Business Park, consisting of
mixed-use office, retail, commercial distribution,
and educational facilities;
Converting Union Station, once the country' s second
largest railroad station, into a mixed-use science
center, museum, retail and transportation complex;
Incorporating the latest energy efficient and
environmental conservation technology to renovate
the New York Life Building into Utilicorp
headquarters;
Cleaning up the Prior Brass site, once home to a
railroad brass bearings foundry, to prepare it for
redevelopment; and
Preparing the Kansas City Structural Steel site, a
22-acre former lead smelting and steel plant, for
development into a mixed-use business park.
In addition, Kansas City has already identified and is
gathering information on eight other sites with strong
redevelopment potential.
SHOWCASE COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES
AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The cities will identify brownfields and incorporate
its redevelopment into existing strategies for regional
planning. The cities will utilize a geographic infor-
mation system (GIS) or equivalent database to inte-
grate local, state, and federal graphical representa-
tions of properties, land use, and economic incentives.
In addition, the cities will analyze policies that may
have contributed to brownfields or hindered their re-
development. The cities hope to provide other cities
with practical guidance for local, state, and federal
cooperation and leveraging of resources.
By promoting the recent expansion of companies such
as Gateway 2000, Wagner, Capital Electric and oth-
ers as examples of redevelopment opportunities in
the CID, the cities will work to prevent sprawl and
the development of area greenfields. Other goals
include preservation of historic sites; focusing on job
creation as an important part of redevelopment; and
partnering to provide job training. The cities will serve
as model for the redevelopment of older industrial
areas, as well as regional cooperation.
Contacts
Department of
Environmental Management
City of Kansas City, MO
(816)274-2014
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 7
(913)551-7786
For more information on the Brownfields Showcase Communities,
visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/showcase.htm
Brownfields Showcase Community
November 1998
Kansas City, Kansas & Missouri
EPA 500-F-98-259
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