Angry residents expected to fill school

PRARIE VILLAGE, Kan. - They're angry and they're curious. They say it is why hundreds of people will pack Shawnee Mission East High School Monday night.

They said the Shawnee Mission School Board took away their school and now Prairie Village wants to take away their neighborhood.

Prairie Village resident Jim Carpenter said, "It really makes me mad. I have to go through this and it's not directed at city council, it's the school board who owns this controversy."

A lot of parents were angry when the Shawnee Mission School Board recently closed the neighborhood Mission Valley Middle School and now they said the empty property is at the center of another controversial decision - what to do with the vacated space.

The new brokers - Red Development - have suggested a few ideas like retail, office and assisted living space.

However, many neighbors said that would take away their tree lined, quiet neighborhood.

Carpenter said about Prairie Village, "It's a place to raise your kids. It's not the business climate that brings them here. We're not interested in more commercial space."

41 Action News talked to Red Development on the phone and they said some residents are not facing reality.

They said the vacated building must change and become something new.

Prairie Village City Council will consider hiring consultants to study what is the best use for the property and how it will expand the southwest corner of 83rd and Mission's commercial development.

"For comparison, that's half the size of Oak Park Mall,” said Carpenter.

Too big, critics said, for a place that has pledged to live up to its name: Prairie Village.

The City of Prairie Village said it has not received any formal plans from the developer about the project.

The council will meet at 6 Monday night in the cafeteria of Shawnee Mission East High School.