435 Magazine recently included the former KC Parks Board Commissioner/President as one of Kansas City’s 50 Most Powerful People. We agree!
ANITA B. GORMAN: Gorman has been shaping city and state parks for 40 years.
Throughout the Kansas City area, you’ll see Anita B. Gorman’s name on city parks, a major nature center, a hiking trail, a fountain, a Court of Honor at Starlight Theatre and even a public swimming pool.
It’s a fitting tribute to Gorman, 87, who has done so much to bring the outdoors to the city.
Gorman grew up on a farm in northeast Missouri and moved with her family to Kansas City in 1943. In 1979, she became the first woman appointed to the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commission, serving until 1991. She was instrumental in efforts to expand the Kansas City Zoo, acquire land for parks and establish new fountains.
Gorman was later appointed to the Missouri Conservation Commission, which oversees regulations, policy and planning strategies of the Department of Conservation.
Gorman’s crowning achievement was the establishment of a major conservation center in the center of Kansas City. She led a campaign to raise half the funds from the private sector and the Department of Conservation provided matching funds. Today, that Department of Conservation facility on Troost Avenue bears her name — the Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center.