Neighbors say Indian Springs revival could do KCK ‘more good than that stadium’
The land where a beloved Kansas City, Kansas, mall once stood has been vacant for years.
The roads surrounding it are littered with potholes that have deepened in time. What appeared to once be a parking lot is lush with plant growth that sprouted up through the concrete.
It’s a view that George Jacobs of Headlines Barber Academy has had across the road from the barber shop and school for a decade.
So now that plans are in the works to bring life back to the site of the former Indian Springs Mall, Jacobs is hopeful that it could also mean a new life for the business and others along the corridor surrounding State Avenue and Interstate 635.
Indian Springs Mall, once a bustling spot for families and teens in the Kansas City metro, was no exception to the decreased popularity that malls across the country saw in the 1990s and into the 2000s. Dying foot traffic and exiting anchor stores soon turned the site into a dead mall after the turn of the century.
The building stayed that way for more than a decade, falling further into disrepair and becoming a local eyesore until officials demolished it in 2016.
In 2024, after previous attempts to do something with the property fell through, a local developer, Erik Murray of Eastside Innovation and Oak Impact Group, unveiled plans to turn it into a billion-dollar shopping spot with mixed income housing, green space and more.
And although those plans have been slow moving — government officials and Murray previously said they reached an impasse over how much the land should sell for — a handful of people at KCK businesses in the area on Friday afternoon said the completion of Murray’s “Midtown Station” project could make major waves for the surrounding neighborhood if successful.
Should all go according to plan, the station would include almost 2,000 apartments, retail space, a grocer, town homes, a solar micro grid, hotel, single-family homes, greenhouses and a 30,000 square-foot innovation campus.
It would sit near an area transit center off which Eastside wants to establish a hub connecting people throughout Wyandotte to various parts of the region.
‘We keep them looking good’
Headlines supports the community by training locals and people from across the region how to become barbers and teach others how. The business moved to its State Avenue location in 2011.
“We support the community, we keep them looking good,” Jacobs said.
And expanding resources, like shopping and housing nearby, would benefit their barber shop, where people can stop in and get a cut, and their abilities to teach at the academy.
Emerald Jackson, a director at Headlines, said she wants to see more grocery stores in the area aside from the nearby Aldi’s. But really, she just wants to see something fill the vacant space that has stood empty for so long.
She called the business corridor that runs along the Indian Springs site a desert.
“Something, something. It’s a big enough space that it could be utilized and just benefit all of Wyandotte County,” she said.
Imani Jacobs, who also works at the business, said she stopped living in Wyandotte County because of how dead it felt. She wanted to see new night life and entertainment opportunities, restaurants and more local businesses.
‘More good than that stadium’
Hank Chamberlain’s family has owned the Jalisco Neighborhood Retail Center, which stands on the west side of I-635, a few minutes away from Headlines, for decades.
As one could imagine, business along that part of State Avenue saw higher traffic when the mall was once opened and in operation. Since its decline and demolition, business slowed, he said.
He thinks if done well, redeveloping the property would be major for area residents and businesses.
“Redeveloping Indian Springs will do Midtown more good than that stadium would,” Chamberlain said, referring to plans to build the Kansas City Chiefs’ new football stadium in west KCK.
Chamberlain doesn’t care who gets the project across the finish line, or what it looks like, but he said it needs to have housing that people living and working in the area can afford. Starting there would potentially benefit area businesses.
Jonathan Ahadi works in a small grocery store in that center. It’s owned by his family, and although he used to live in Wyandotte County, he’s since moved and only goes to the area for work.
Ahadi didn’t know much about the Midtown Station project, aside from knowing about the vacant plot he’s driven by before. But even so, he said anything that could bring something fresh to the area would at least be worth a shot.
