Ruthanne Harper
Community leader Ruthanne Harper has been gone for three months now, but her name will live on in Historic Northeast for decades to come.
The Kansas City Parks Board commissioners unanimously voted at their June 23 meeting to rename Benton Circle — the traffic roundabout at St. John Avenue and Benton Boulevard — after Harper, who died unexpectedly March 29.
“I think this is a fantastic way to honor her,” Commissioner Meghan Conger said. “She’d act like she was angry about it, but inside she’d be very pleased.”
With Harper’s devotion to the Kessler Society, Cliff Drive Corridor Management Committee, Kansas City Museum Advisory Board, Neighborhood Improvement Committee, Public Improvements Advisory Committee, upgrades to the St. John corridor and much more, the Parks Board commissioners agreed she deserved some recognition.
Mike Herron, North Region manager for Parks and Recreation and a personal friend to Harper, said with the circle currently undergoing a renovation, it was the right timing to rename it Harper Circle.
He added that this honor was appropriate because the circle is so near to St. John Avenue, the museum, Cliff Drive and other parts of the community for which Harper worked so hard.
“It’s the heart of Northeast, and, you could argue, the heart of Kansas City,” Herron said. “It kind of symbolized her passion for making her community better.”
Several Northeast community members spoke in support of the proposal to dub the circle Harper Circle, including Cheryl Bisbee, president of the Cliff Drive Corridor Management Committee; Gary Marsh, president of the KCM Advisory Board; and Indian Mound Association President Scott Wagner.
Parks Board Chair John Fierro said normally after hearing a presentation, he would recommend directing staff to research the issue and bring it back at the next meeting for a vote — but not in this case.
“I don’t think I need any research from staff to come back and tell me who Ruthanne Harper was,” Fierro said before the five-member board accepted the proposal.
Although the commissioners were quick to approval, Herron said it would still be a good idea for any organizations or individuals who are interested to write letters of support to the Parks Board because those letters will go into a Parks and Recreation Department file for posterity.
“Fifty years from now, when someone asks, ‘who was Harper,’” Herron said, “we’ll be able to definitively say who she was.” |
