KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Megan came across this story after talking with Waldo neighbors on another old, vacant KCPS school site that neighbors wanted to see movement on. Share your story idea with Megan.
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An empty lot in Waldo that has sat vacant for years is finally planned to go up for sale, giving neighbors another chance to influence what gets built on the former Bingham Middle School site.
The Kansas City Public School District owns the lot at 77th and Wyandotte, where Bingham Middle School once stood before closing in 2001 and being demolished in 2016.
Barney Barry, who lives just a block away, has watched the site's stagnancy for years.
The former Bingham Middle School student showed us his old yearbook in 2016, right before the building was demolished.
"It was a great facility," Barry said in 2016.
When we reached out to Barry nearly a decade later, he was surprised to hear from us again.
"I'd almost forgotten we did an interview on this very site when the building was still there 10 years ago," he said.
Not much has changed at the site since then.
"I'm ready for something," Barry said.
Angie Lile, president of the Waldo Tower Neighborhood Association, has watched the lot remain empty.
"They took the building down. It's a vacant lot right now," she said.
Over the years, Lile has heard various proposals for the site that never materialized.
"A lot of people were putting in proposals, but it didn't have legs, so it continued to sit," she said. "So now they are going to sell it. They thought maybe they put a middle school there, but maybe not."
After the district's recent $474 million bond passed, KCPS said it has decided to sell the Bingham site. Rather than using that site, KCPS chose to build and rehab a new Southwest Middle School at the old vacant Southwest High School site in Brookside, at 65th and Wornall.
This decision gives Waldo residents another opportunity to influence what gets built in their neighborhood.
"Either some livable space, affordable housing, community benefit space; something we can all use," Lile said.
The neighborhood has also considered the possibility of a new home for the Waldo Library.
Barry has his own vision for the site.
"I would like it turned into a community center and a swimming pool," he said.
Residents remain opposed to large commercial development. In 2013, Walmart tried to move into the area, but neighbors successfully blocked the retail giant.
"No huge commercial facility," Barry said.
KCPS representatives attended a recent community meeting to discuss the site's future.
"The district plans to solicit reuse proposals for the site," said Jesse Lange, KCPS manager of planning and real estate.
The district discussed various options to solicit feedback from the neighbors to help developers understand what Waldo residents want, including the possibility of teacher housing.
"It looks different in communities, but it is something that works," Lange said.
KCPS plans to market the Bingham site for sale in November, with proposals due in February. Lange said the district will vet the proposals and bring them back to the neighborhood next spring to help decide on a final developer by fall 2026.
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