KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Shawnee Tribe released a detailed plan Thursday on how it plans to save and restore the Shawnee Indian Mission.
Broken down into three phases, the plan estimates it will take seven years to accomplish.
It starts with Phase 1, which requires the land being given back to the tribe.
If the land is conveyed to the tribe, its business council will pledge at least $15 million toward restoration and revitalization in the first two years, per the plan.
Preservation of the property and historical documentation of the site round out the first phase.
Phase 2 focuses on stabilization of the site and probably will overlap with the first by “several months” within years one to two.
Projects determined to be “high priority,” primarily large-scale exterior maintenance, will be the focus of this phase.
The final phase, Phase 3, will flesh out the master plan and interpretive plan, bringing them to life.
Again, the third phase has the potential to overlap the second phase by a few months. The bulk of the work will take place in years three through seven.
The goal of the master plan is to identify the “use of the cultural resource based on the input of the various stakeholders.”
Building on those steps, the interpretive plan would then work to increase visitors while portraying the site’s “entire history accurately.”
Over 14,000 square feet will be tended to in the installation, unless it is deemed necessary to scale back.
Rounding out the project, “medium” and “low” priority restoration tasks will be completed.
The Shawnee Tribe says the seven-year plan will cost at least $6.5 million and as much as almost $15 million.
“This is a sacred place for the Shawnee Tribe and many other tribes that had children attend here,” Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes said in a statement. “My office has reached out to the tribal leaders whose nations had children at the Mission to convey our concerns about the site. The Mission is a crucial resource as America grapples with the consequences of Indian boarding schools, and it is also an important landmark in the history of the state of Kansas.
“This site is in immediate distress, and we need to act quickly. I am proud that the Shawnee Business Council has stepped up to commit the full funds necessary to preserve this site and keep it open to the public for generations to come.”
The Kaw Nation came out Wednesday in opposition to the plan, arguing that the site shouldn't be given to any one tribe.
Thursday, the city of Fairway issued its own update on the Shawnee Indian Mission situation.
The city says Mayor Melanie Hepperly and City Administrator Nathan Nogelmeier have been in talks with Kansas legislators concerning the Shawnee Tribe's campaign to acquire the land.
"These meetings will continue so long as Chief Barnes continues to spread blatantly false and misleading statements about the Shawnee Indian Mission, the Kansas Historical Society, the City of Fairway and the Shawnee Indian Mission Foundation," per the city.
Fairway then lists seven points it feels were represented inaccurately in the tribe's plan for restoration.
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