The Joplin City Council will review a request for qualifications for the demolition of Memorial Hall and construction of a veterans park when it meets 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
In documents posted today on the city website, city officials firmly laid the blame for the deteriorated condition of the nearly century-old building- it's the building's fault.
After describing the storied history of the building, the city officials who prepared the document offered the following description of what happened to it:
Unfortunately, this 95-year-old building has fallen in disrepair and needs to be demolished.
Though no names are mentioned and it would be surprising if they were in this sort of document, it goes on to note that there were problems with the original design and they screwed up in later repair efforts, though it is phrased much more delicately.
Two recent analyses conducted by SFS Architecture in 2021 and 2024 revealed multiple fatal flaws in the original building structure and construction renovations, failed roofing support systems and foundations, along with various environmental hazards from decades of moisture intrusion and building settling.
The introduction to the request for quotes, also makes it clear there's no need for Memorial Hall any more.
After all, there are other venues that can handle the types of events that were once a regular feature at Memorial Hall.
In most recent years, utilization of Memorial Hall devolved with new larger and more modern venues opening at several area casinos and venues offering concerts and other productions once hosted in Joplin.Joplin Schools included a performing arts center to seat nearly 1,200 people when it rebuilt in 2014. In 2022, Connect 2 Culture opened the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex adjacent to and just north of Memorial Hall. The Cornell Complex offers a 450-seat performance hall and other amenities. With these additions in our community, it is time for the City to take a fresh look at the site of Memorial Hall and site to better serve our community.
For those who may worry that city officials are not going to take citizens' wishes into consideration as they move forward with the destruction of Memorial Hall, that also is addressed.
City officials are not only wanting our input. They are seeking "deep engagement."
The building itself is a memorial and we expect some architectural design features may be retained or incorporated into the design and future park if possible. Strategies and methods for educating on and incorporating the history and significance of the site should be included in this design. The City is soliciting proposals on what could be done with this site and property after the removal of Memorial Hall.
We expect deep engagement with the community during the process. This selected firm will lead a team of city and community leaders to perform a building memorials preservation and assessment, seek community feedback and guidance, evaluate a variety of design options based on the feedback received, and provide a cost estimate for the recommended future use of the site as a park worthy of the history and prominence of the site in the downtown Joplin area.
It's good to know that "city and community leaders" will be involved in the process since they're the ones who made this situation possible.
City officials want the veterans park to include these features:
• Showcase recovered artifacts and war memorials of the existing building
• Utilize architectural elements recovered to incorporate into the park features and design
• Benches and/or seating structures and areas for reflection and outdoors enjoyment
• Low maintenance and attractive landscaping features
• Parking to accommodate visitors
• Consideration of defined entrance and exit area(s)
• Given site holds electrical, water, and sanitary utilities, explore how these could be utilized for drinking fountains, restrooms, landscape maintenance, lighting, and security needs, and other activities and events.
• Be a significant addition and attraction to downtown, with a high level of beautification and architectural design.
The deadline for firms to submit their qualifications is September 9.
5 comments:
What a bunch of finger pointing didn't do nothings!
If you think about it they didn’t. The current elected officials absolutely positively did not have anything to do with decades of neglect, failed repair work, deterioration and proper maintenance. Now, since they are current administration, they’re going to catch the blame, but for every ounce of blame thrown toward them, 10 times that amount should be shouldered toward elected officials over the past 60 years (at least). Granted, I have no reason to defend current administration, but they are not completely responsible for the state of affairs with this one building.
All I know is it damn sure ain’t the building’s fault it’s the City of Joplin’s fault buildings require maintenance from day one.
The building didn't kill itself. We all know they are going to do what THEY want to do. Our voices mean nothing. So they want to build a pretty little park with amenities so the homeless have a comfortable place to hang out.
Since no one else wants to give credit where credit is due I’ll give some credit to current city council for finally putting an end to Memorial Hall.
Memorial Hall was the proverbial horse that was rode hard and put away wet way too many times and the poor horse was old and beat down. It was dead long before the current city council was elected and unfortunately someone had to be the bad guy to put the horse down.
Instead of continuing to pour more money into a dilapidated hole, placing band aids on a broken arm, current council decided to end quit beating a dead horse and finally put it, the taxpayers money and never ending excuses out of its misery and tear it down.
Thank you for being bad the guy and doing what was inevitable.
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