KC business groups line up in support of renaming the J.C. Nichols fountain, parkway
Several influential business groups on Friday said they support the idea of renaming Kansas City’s J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain and J.C. Nichols Parkway.
An effort to change the name of the two memorials has gained momentum in recent days as cities and states across the country confront their histories with race and racism. The push comes after more than a week of protesting police brutality, systematic racism and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer.
For several nights, local protesters gathered near the J.C. Nichols fountain.
Nichols was the iconic developer who opened the Country Club Plaza in 1923. But his legacy has been at issue because of the covenants and deed restrictions he wrote into real estate deals that denied housing to Black Kansas Citians.
In a news release issued after 5 p.m. Friday, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, and Visit KC issued a joint statement in support of renaming the fountain and parkway.
“The business community is committed to making Kansas City a place of opportunity for everyone. We support the process underway to rename the fountain and parkway because we reject policies that were exclusionary, racist and wrong,” the statement said. “We feel that our public infrastructure should reflect the values of diversity and inclusion, to which we aspire and are committed.”
In the news release, Chamber Chair Carolyn Watley said the organization was “committed to the work of ending the systemic racism that has impacted African-Americans in Kansas City for too long.”
“At this critical moment in our history, renaming the fountain and parkway would be an important step into a better future and a concrete symbol of a Kansas City that is a welcoming community with opportunity for all,” said Watley, vice president of community engagement at CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services Inc.
Last week, Chris Goode, a member of Kansas City’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, proposed renaming the two memorials. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said he would “fully support” such an effort.
Goode suggested that the J.C. Nichols fountain be renamed the Dream Fountain and that the parkway be renamed to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The city also plans to solicit feedback from the public.
In the news release Friday, Visit KC President & CEO Jason Fulvi said renaming the fountain and parkway would help make the region more welcoming to visitors.
“For us to truly be the cosmopolitan city we wish to be, we must recognize opportunities to enact change,” Fulvi said, “even if in seemingly small but symbolic ways.”
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 6:22 PM.
