KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The nonprofit which oversees the Franklin Center in Kansas City, Kansas, will host a meeting Tuesday night in response to a fire which damaged the building last week.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the parking lot outside the center at 1403 Metropolitan Ave. All are welcome.
Leaders with Franklin Center, Inc. say the meeting will focus less on the future of the building, but on sharing memories and concerns about the building after the fire.
A fire last Wednesday caused the roof to partially collapse. The Franklin Center opened in 1898 as a school. In 1979, it transitioned into a community center. For 30 years it offered adult education, services for seniors, a playground for children, a market and other amenities. Those services stopped in 2009. Now Franklin Center, Inc. distributes food from the site once a month as its board works on next steps for the building itself.
Topher Philgreen, chair of the Franklin Center, Inc. board, said the most recent ideas for the building were to include a medical clinic and community center.
One woman living nearby grew up visiting the Franklin Center. Now, a mother herself, the woman is hopeful the group can bring the building back to life.
“It just gave us something to do,” Yessenia said. “Now, there is not really much to do around here. My kids are growing up here and there are no parks. It’d be nice to have something back there.”
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
