Controversial Citadel Plaza poised to get millions from taxpayers

By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI

For years, Benni Ewing and Janet Boggess have lived in development purgatory on Park Avenue.

They’ve tripped on crumbling sidewalks to get in their cars and then swerved to avoid huge trash piles that sat for months on the side of the pot-hole-ridden road. They watched as the Community Development Corporation of Kansas City tore down houses in their neighborhood in a haphazard manner and then left gaping troughs in the ground. They never had any beef with the proposed Citadel Plaza shopping center that was supposedly taking shape, but, as the progress continued to hiccup and the CDC kept them in the dark, their frustrations started to boil.

But the decade-long saga that has been the Citadel Plaza will likely get the go-ahead from the Kansas City City Council tomorrow, paving the way for a huge infusion of public dollars in coming weeks. After years of controversy and setbacks, the council is rolling the dice on what its members admit is a risky development. But, with millions of taxpayer money on the line, they’re making sure they protect public funds if the CDC-KC screws up.