Swope Park Industrial Association (SPIA)
I. Background and History
A 1950s marketing brochure promoting the Swope Park Industrial Center (now Swope Park Industrial Park - SPIA) headlines its sales presentation with, “An Industrial Park Within a Park”.
The establishment of the Park began with the pioneering of the first industrial plant in the area for the now defunct Imco Container Company – which, at the time, had become a division of Rexall Drugs. The developers, then, maintained that the factors that led to the acquisition of the site for Imco spurred them to acquire additional land and create the Park. Those factors were accessibility, excellent topography, attractive surroundings, and a location in the center of the metropolitan area.
Today, many of the Park’s tenants share the sentiments of those early-day developers – notwithstanding some challenges from flooding and limited access to the Park itself. The Park’s tenants include manufacturing concerns, and service companies. Salvajor – in business since 1944 – constructed its building in 1965; Gasket Engineering Co. is now located in the former Marion Labs facilities; and Livers Bronze company occupies approximately 140,000 square feet in two buildings. Other smaller concerns are scattered throughout the Park.
II. Issues and Needed Improvements
A number of pressing issues prevent the Park from truly being the idyllic business location envisioned in the ‘50s marketing brochure, in which “…the site is such an integral part of (Swope Park) itself that as place of employment and industry it enjoys surroundings that are a far cry from the congested, grimy, industrial areas which are a thing of the past”.
A. Flood Water Issues
Large areas of the Park are either in a floodplain or in a floodway. Serious flooding has occurred as recently as 1998. The City and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are in the final stages of planning a flood control project for the Park. Numerous required studies and project plans have been completed and subject to public and bureaucratic scrutiny. The favored solution is to construct an earthen levee and two areas of bank stabilization.
B. Railroad Crossing
This matter is probably the most pressing issue among businesses in the Park, aside from flooding concerns There is only one entrance/exit point in the Park. That point is 75th Terrace – across the Union Pacific main tracks. According to UP, as many as 44 trains a day move up and down the track.
There are instances when the trains are halted, blocking the access across the tracks. Or, there are occasions when equipment breakdowns leave the road blocked until repairs to the trains are made.
Aside from the inconvenience, this condition poses a potential safety hazard for the businesses and employees of the Park. Additionally, with such a busy track, the possibility of a derailment cannot be discounted. Some Park businesses have suggested a new road next to the railroad tracks, going south to Indiana Street. A portion of the proposed new road would need to go along the closed landfill site owned by Laidlaw, or its successor. While Laidlaw had initially been supportive, the property owner now opposes the proposal, ostensibly because of perceived liabilities.
C. Other Issues
Public Transportation: Public transportation does not directly serve the Park because the public transit authority contends that there is no place for the buses to turn around. Consequently, employees using public transportation must disembark at 75th St. and Cleveland and walk on 75th Tr., since there are no sidewalks. Foot traffic must compete for solid footing during inclement weather with motorized traffic – predominantly truck traffic.
Blight in and Around the Park: One property owner in the Park has a construction/demotion business. That property is used to store inoperable construction equipment, disabled trucks and trailers, and other junk equipment. Construction and demolition refuse is also dumped on the property. Other blight problems include illegal dumping at the entrance to the Park, as well as abandoned vehicles in the same vicinity.
SPIA Greensheet Priorities – 2003
Project Description
Needed Funds
Available Funds
Remarks
Flood Control Project
$11.9 million
Feasibility Study funds available; study completed.
Funding to be provided in the reauthorization of the WRDA
Railroad Crossing at 75th Terrace
Unknown
N/A
TranSystems has indicated an interest by the RR to assist if the current crossing is closed
Public Transportation
N/A
N/A
This is an advocacy issue that can best be addressed by some process of petition to KCATA
Blight in and around the Park
N/A
Funds in City operating budget
This issue will be highlighted in the KCIC Brownbook
