BCCP 4743 Troost Suite 200 Kansas City, MO 64110-1727 Ph: 816-523-2991 Fax: 816-523-2281     ARCHIVED NEWSLETTERS                                   TOP                                                                                                                         TOP                         TOP                   TOP

THE BRUSH CREEK BULLETIN Volume 6, Issue 8 November/December 2004   NEW BCCP LEADERSHIP POISED FOR PROGRESS Rev. Stan Archie, Christian Fellowship Pastor, Elected BCCP President Stan Archie’s world covers a huge spectrum, all within a few blocks. While he can see state-of-the-art facilities about three blocks away, the minister, businessman, entrepreneur, and newly-elected President of Brush Creek Community Partners can also open his church’s door at 45th and Troost Avenue to view neighborhoods that reflect more challenging aspects of the Brush Creek Corridor. From his windowless office at Christian Fellowship Ministries, Pastor Archie seeks to bridge the for-profit, nonprofit and grassroots sectors. His personal history and professional experiences seem to make him uniquely qualified for the task. Archie describes his life as an African-American kid with a single mom, growing up on the streets of Kansas City and bused to an all-white school. He left home early, not expecting to live past age 19. “Then I realized I made it to 19 and had to do something with my life, so I went to Bible college to prove to my mother that church was unnecessary.” Stan Archie, president Brush Creek Community Partners Archie wound up receiving a degree in Divinity with an emphasis on Biblical language and urban development from Carver Baptist Bible College in Kansas City. Continuing his education at Calvary Bible College, he earned his bachelors degree with a double major of organizational leadership and human resource development, and he holds a Masters in Education from Mid-America Nazarene University. After working in business executive positions with Sprint, BGM Industries and C&C Redevelopment, Archie decided there was a role for a ministry in the urban core that incorporates his business background. He founded his less-traditional church in 1993 to focus on helping people live healthy lifestyles. This enables them to deal with practical issues concerning marriage, finances and other daily challenges of life. These people, in turn, can become self-sufficient and the community prospers. He understands the inability of individuals to see a future for themselves, so he helps drug users and dealers, prostitutes, and kids like he was to learn life planning that sounds an awful lot like corporate organizational development – and it works! On the flip side, Archie’s cross-cultural experiences bring a valuable perspective to the BCCP board, said BCCP’s immediate Past-President David Welte. “When we talk about stabilizing neighborhoods--he’s lived that. He can give us first-hand what the challenges, issues and perceptions really are, and how we can best meet those.” Welte, a shareholder in the law firm of Polsinelli Shalton Welte and Suelthaus, represents the Stowers Institute for Medical Research on the BCCP board. Archie describes his process as working with three different sectors in the community, each with their own mindset: the for-profits who are selling a product; the non-profits who are selling an idea in which to invest; and the grassroots, which works on a commitment to individuals and is not dependent on someone’s position. Welte and Archie realize there’s a difference when you don’t have someone from a large institution at the helm of the partnership. Archie can sit down and talk about leadership principles with people on his street, and he can help corporate leaders learn lessons from the grassroots about how to motivate a group of people who aren’t getting paid. Archie has been a BCCP volunteer its founding in 1993. His impressive history of community service includes the FOCUS-Kansas City Steering Council and co-chair of the city’s Safe City Initiative. He is a member of Kansas City’s City Plan Commission, a Chaplain for the Kansas City Police Department and a board member of University Leadership Academy charter school. Welte noted how effective Archie was on BCCP’s Healthy Neighborhoods Task Force, in which the group focused on “what we want (neighborhoods in the Brush Creek Corridor) to look like in the future.” Building that, Archie said, “takes a level of cohesion where all segments are adding value to the Corridor, connected through a park district that is surrounded by healthy neighborhoods.” Archie’s vision of success as BCCP president is to work with all, but particularly the grassroots segment. “On the individual and neighborhood levels, some don’t recognize they’re in a world-class district. There’s so much potential in what we can achieve working with all levels.” New Board to Advance Goals At its November meeting, the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors elected 2005 officers and several new board members, who will take part in leading the organization in the execution of a new strategic plan. 2005 Officers and Members of the BCCP Board President Stan Archie, co-founder and senior pastor of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church and president of Christian Fellowship Ministries; Vice President William H. Downey, president and chief operating officer of Great Plains Energy, Inc. and president and chief executive officer of Kansas City Power and Light; Secretary Sandra A.J. Lawrence, senior vice president of administration and treasurer of Midwest Research Institute; Treasurer Rob Givens, president and chief executive officer of Mazuma Credit Union; Past President David Welte, general counsel and assistant secretary, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, and shareholder, Polsinelli Shalton Welte & Suelthaus; Brian Ball, AIA, past president, Rockhill Homes Association and partner, Gastinger Walker Harden Architects; Helen Bryant, board member, Swope Parkway/Elmwood Neighborhood Association and owner, Bryant Real Estate; Kathleen Collins, president, Kansas City Art Institute; Rachel Blackburn Cozad, director, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; Gloria Eurotas, executive director, Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance; William Hart, vice president, Blue Hills Neighborhood Association and president, Hart Financial Services; C. Lee Jones, president, Linda Hall Library of Science and Technology; Timothy O. Kristl, commissioner, Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreations and partner, Mitchell, Kristl & Lieber, P.C.; Bob Langenkamp, acting director, Kansas City Planning and Development Department; Steve McDowell, FAIA, principal, BNIM Architects; Mark McPhee, M.D., senior vice president and chief operating officer, Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City; Wynn Presson, senior vice president, Swope Community Enterprises; Guy Swanson, vice president for finance and chief financial officer, Rockhurst University; Linda Gill Taylor, director, Center for the City, University of Missouri-Kansas City; Rick Thaemert, senior vice president and senior partner, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.; Maurice Watson, partner, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin L.L.P.; Marc Wilson, director and chief executive officer, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and Carol Grimaldi, executive director, Brush Creek Community Partners (non-voting).   New Vision, Mission and Goals During 2004, the BCCP board undertook a strategic planning process that resulted in revision of the organization’s vision and mission and the establishment of some new strategic priorities and goals. The vision of Brush Creek Community Partners is realization of “a world class cultural, research and park district connected through thriving businesses surrounded by healthy neighborhoods.” To that end, BCCP holds its mission is “to provide leadership that unites institutions, businesses and citizens of all races and ethnicities in a belief that the Brush Creek Corridor is a community with opportunity and a sense of well-being.” BCCP board members Bill Hart and Gloria Eurotas celebrate neighborhood victories with BCCP President Stan Archie at a recent event. To advance the strategic priority of building leadership within the Corridor, BCCP will work to convene forums on leadership led by member representatives in the partnership and seek ways of promoting leadership development within Corridor neighborhoods. To help catalyze world-class caliber physical accomplishments along the Corridor, BCCP is committed to working with the Parks and Recreation Department and Commission to raise enough funds to design an interactive cultural walking trail that will connect the Corridor and its amenities. Further, the organization plans to endorse a world-class project along the Corridor east of Troost Avenue in 2005. Greater attention will be given to marketing the Brush Creek Corridor and BCCP with the formation of a new Marketing Task Force. This task force will develop strategies and tools to promote the vision of the Corridor as it is defined by volunteers interested in helping answer the question: “When our work is completed, what will the Brush Creek Corridor look like?” Consistent with that vision is implementation of strategies defined by the Board of Directors’ Healthy Neighborhood Task Force, which includes leadership development, directing BCCP to identify resources to catalyze housing rehabilitation in at least one Corridor neighborhood, and address problems homeowners have with predatory lending that is prevalent in several Corridor neighborhoods. BRIDGE NEWS ABOUNDS ALONG CORRIDOR Prospect Bridge Opened in October The new Prospect Bridge over Brush Creek was opened October 27 as part of a community-wide recognition, “A Celebration of Progress: Prospect @ Brush Creek,” which was held on the bridge. Former Kansas City Mayor and City Council representative Emanuel Cleaver II and Brush Creek Community Partners Executive Director Carol Grimaldi discussed Brush Creek’s past and future as two of the event’s speakers. Federal and local officials decided in 1998 to replace the bridge as a flood control measure after seven people were killed there in an October 4 flash flood. Channel work along the Prospect reach and replacement of the bridge cost over $11 million. As a City Council member and Mayor, Cleaver, who was also a member of the BCCP Board of Directors, spearheaded the city’s efforts in developing the Brush Creek Flood Control and Beautification Project. He was elected to represent Missouri’s Fifth District in the United States Congress the week following this event. Troost Design Signifies “It’s More Than A Bridge!” Graced by flaring arches supporting hanging walkways over Brush Creek, and a pedestrian plaza below the bridge that captures changes in light through a prism located in the middle of the bridge, the final concept plan for the Troost Bridge replacement will be unlike any other bridge in Kansas City or anywhere else. Designers of the Troost Bridge replacement over Brush Creek understood the community’s sentiments when they were told in 2001 that this is more than a bridge. Stakeholders said then they wanted the bridge to be part of the destination of attractions along Brush Creek, and to connect people not just north and south along Troost Avenue, but also east and west across Troost. HNTB Corporation designed the 150-foot span with the public art component created by the artist team of Derek Porter, el dorado inc and Custom Engineering. The project is anticipated to move into final design in 2005 with construction expected to begin the following year. The bridge replacement, which will cost approximately $5 million, will be enhanced with a new streetscape design along Troost Avenue between 42nd and 52nd Streets. BCCP, CITY RECOGNIZED FOR BRUSH CREEK CORRIDOR REDEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE Brush Creek Community Partners President David Welte and Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes received the 2004 Urban Land Institute Kansas City Award for contributions to the Built Environment in the Smart Growth-Development or Building category for the Brush Creek Redevelopment Initiative in October. The award to BCCP and the city recognizes “A built environment that ensures neighborhoods, towns and regions that accommodate growth in ways that are economically sound, environmentally responsible, and supportive of community livability--growth that enhances the quality of life." This recognition is as much for the purposeful collaborative nature of the redevelopment initiative and the work of many, many partners in the effort, as it is for the promise the Corridor’s redevelopment holds for our community.   BRUSH CREEK BASIN STUDY INITIATED The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other partners kicked off the bi-state Brush Creek Basin Study by convening the Brush Creek Watershed Summit this fall. Approximately 60 stakeholders from Kansas and Missouri discussed plans for development and land uses along Brush Creek, as well as infrastructure improvements that are foreseen throughout the metro area for purposes of improved storm and sewer water management. Brush Creek Community Partners has long supported federal funding of this study, which will lead to comprehensive planning for flood damage reduction, ecosystem restoration, water quality and flood warning in the entire Brush Creek Watershed. Its outcomes are anticipated to enhance safety and foster economic growth throughout the Corridor. Members of the bi-state Kansas City Congressional delegation have been advocates for the study’s authorization and funding. Brush Creek looking east at Lake of the Enshriners from the Brush Creek Community Center at Cleveland Avenue. The Brush Creek Basin is a 29 square mile sub shed of the Blue River watershed; 40 percent of the Brush Creek Basin is in Kansas. Participants in the summit urged the formation of a watershed commission or organization to help lead the study and implementation of its outcomes. Further, consensus decision-making and watershed-based approaches were considered essential to the basin’s safety and success. In 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be drafting a reconnaissance report and securing partners for a feasibility study that will establish the scope of the study and the range of activities to be pursued as a result of the study. Additionally the Corps will be undertaking a feasibility report for a habitat restoration program at the Lake of the Enshriners at the eastern edge of the Corridor in 2005.