The City of Kansas City and Kansas City Public Schools will celebrate their investments in upgrading the Central Park athletic facilities during an event starting 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 26 at the park. The celebration will take place on the track in the south side of the park along Linwood Blvd. Free on-street parking is available.
At the celebration, City leaders will ceremonially hand-over a check representing a $400,000 investment of Public Improvement Advisory Committee (PIAC) 3rd District funds into the park’s athletic facilities. Central Academy of Excellence students will then present a ceremonial “thank you” card to the City’s representatives.
KCPS is adding about $800,000 of its own money into the joint project, which began to take shape in the fall of 2015 after both City and KCPS officials recognized that there was an opportunity to use PIAC funds to improve the park. More than 300 Central Academy students signed a petition that helped the project earn a recommendation from the 3rd District committee and approval from the City Council. This is one of the largest investments in a single project that has ever been approved by a district-level PIAC in Kansas City, Mo.
Central Academy students use the park athletic facilities thanks to a partnership between KCPS and the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation. The PIAC and KCPS funds will be used to install a new track and convert the existing field into a regulation-size football and soccer field with high-quality turf. It is anticipated that the Central Park athletic facility project will start around Jan. 1, 2017 and be completed by that summer.