KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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After more than 20 years of silence, the Giralda Tower bells are returning to Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza starting this Easter Sunday.
The bells will ring for the first time at noon Sunday. Visitors can expect to hear them during the day on the hour, with a new song playing Monday through Saturday at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The Giralda Tower bells first rang in 1967 after the tower was built, but stopped ringing sometime in the early 2000s. Longtime Kansas City residents may remember the tower bells, but many people have never heard them.
As the Plaza’s new owners work to restore and revitalize the area, Country Club Plaza PR manager Caroline Hogan said the bells were a tradition they had to bring back. They see it as one way to reconnect visitors with the area’s history while also creating a sense of energy for what’s next.
"What we've done with reinvigorating the Plaza, restoring a lot of the Plaza, we wanted to do the same thing with the bells. It kind of just creates a fun energy throughout the Plaza, and we really want to enhance that customer experience, and we think this is going to be a good way to," Hogan said.
The Plaza master plan, approved last year, lays out a long-term vision for the area, including new residential units, updated retail spaces, and the restoration of historic character.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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