Mission Center maul

The City of Mission recently erected placards touting the pending destruction of the venerable Mission Center Mall.

The mall, which according to the Kansas City Star, closed its doors for good last week, will be replaced by a high-end shopping/residential center.

The Mission city council had hosted some hearings on proposals to rebuild the central business district, and the Star published a report in one of the unread back pages, but of course, I first heard details about the plans from my barber a few weeks ago.

Part of the plan is to remove the empty, rotting corpse of the Mission Center Mall and replace it with Plaza-style shops a high-rise hotel and 10-story condo building. Removing the mall shouldn't be that difficult, since it's falling apart already.

And, living only a few blocks away from the site I can't say I was too keen on the high-rise hotel and condos. Then I took a look as the presentations available on the Mission web site, and I have to say that this looks a helluva lot better than the current eyesore.

So here are a few pics from the presentation.

Here's the current view of Johnson Drive looking to the southeast (at the mall).

And, through the magic of computer imaging, a view of the proposed development.

Here's the proposed development from the Roeland Drive elevation.

And here's the "artistic" rendering

tagged: Roeland Park, Kansas, City Council, Mission, mall, development, architecture