It’s been one month since our city-wide election to save Joe Dennis Park from a large commercial development, and the Friends of Westwood Parkland have been busy working to ensure that Westwood moves forward to respect the vote and create a bigger, better park for all of us to enjoy:
- We have spoken with two Westwood City Council members to explain that we have a plan to raise the $285,000 to pay off the City’s debt on the 5050 Rainbow (old Christian Church) property.
- We asked the Shawnee Mission School Board to offer to extend Westwood’s right of first refusal on the old Westwood View School. We believe we can work with the Board to preserve this parcel of land for the Westwood community.
- We have begun assembling a 4-city task force (Westwood, Westwood Hills, Mission Woods and Fairway have been contacted) to raise the private funds needed to pay for the old school property. This would be an area-wide effort for those who are interested in preserving the last green space in northeast Johnson County for public use.
- We have tentatively scheduled a meeting with Mayor Waters to discuss our efforts and to see how we can join forces with city leadership to create the green space we all want to see.
Overwhelmingly, people on both sides of the vote wanted a BIGGER, BETTER PARK. Now is the time to make it happen! We encourage everyone to stay engaged in this process. Thank you!
