Bannister Mall

[Scout]

Well...you know, what goes around comes around.

heheh

Sorry. Maybe I went there after reading your post. Good intentions though.

[Watcher]

There is another good site for this kind of thing

Http://www.labelscar.com

Edit: Was down earlier today but now is back up and moving.

[scotter]

I worked at Bannister back in 88 while in college. I lived over on the other side of the federal center on Holmes road north of the high school. I worked in Olgas Kitchen in the food court and my romemate worked at Luby's. The area I lived in was definately a high crime nieghborhood, I never went outside after dark alone. The mall was a refuge to me. I always felt safe there and back then the place was very acfive, there were a lot of stores and the people watching was great. I also got a discount at Olgas which was great being on a student income and all that. I never cared much for KC but I always thought that if I ever came through with my wife or family I would take them to Bannister for old times sake. When I heard about it's closing I was bummed. KC is just a gas stop along 70 to me now.

[junkman306]

I've never been in Bannister Mall. I've been by it a million times, but never to it. I go to Oak Park Mall alot.

[Watcher]

Well, there are some pictures here of what it used to look like in better days. For some reason you have to scroll way down on this page to get to the content:

http://www.labelscar.com/missouri/bannister-mall

Also some from after it started to decline. Oak Park Mall is a lot better than Bannister has been for years.

[Scout]

I wonder if there is any precedent. I mean, there are plenty of abandoned malls that went under because of neighborhood decline, but are there any urban centers such as this that went down so quickly. It was the early nineties when WM built the Hypermart there and it was only one of probably a hundred (?) across the country. The only other ones I was ever in were Topeka's and one in Arlington, Texas. They had a nice strip mall along with Best Buy and Luby's...Bodee's BBQ was good. Kinda surreal that it's all just gone now. I gassed up on Bannister awhile back and had my hand on my gun the whole time.

[Watcher]

I am not afraid to go out there. I can't remember the last time I even saw anybody there. Isn't much to attract anyone any more.

[Scout]

I'm talking about the Quick Trip directly across from the front entrance (south). Bannister road itself. Plenty of traffic and plenty of stuff going on. The last time I was there, there was like one major store left over to the north and a bit east of there and there's still plenty going on right around Quick Trip.

Personally, I've never had any trouble in the area despite having shopped there quite a bit. I've just had a couple of uneasy feelings. I'll readily admit they may have been brought about by the area's reputation as opposed to real conditions.

[Esoteric]

All the rumors about crime at Bannister were bullshit. Suburban white people ate that shit up with a smile like always.

[KansasCity]

I got the same impression.

[Esoteric]

I wonder if I will live to see the day Legends or Zona Rosa are declared unsafe because of "blighted neighborhood."

[Watcher]

It might be sooner than you think. All the "undesirables" who used to shop at Bannister Mall have to go somewhere to buy stuff. Oak Park Mall has already had at least one well-publicized kidnapping and murder.

Anybody who wants to go out to Bannister might want to have a look at this:

http://www.kmbc.com/news/15069350/detail.html

[Scout]

You guys evidently don't believe Bannister actually was unsafe. Here's the thing though, Bannister went out YEARS before the Supercenter and the strip mall along with Best Buy, etc. Wal Mart at the very least, has a huge publicity machine to combat any negative publicity, which false reports of crime incidents are. They went out anyway. Plus, I shopped there some-not at Bannister, but the other places. They were always VERY busy. So something else drove those stores away. It wasn't lack of customers.

As to the Bannister Mall thing about them having bad publicity...the one time I remember going there was EXACTLY as either the news media or somebody I'd talked to had portrayed it. Around closing, huge gangs of kids milling around just looking for trouble. And I was a twenty-something, don't-pay-attention-to-the-old-folk's-warnings type at the time.

I just love how Kansas City, Kansas has went from a slum to having all the neat stuff they've got out around Cabela's, but it is certainly prime for the Bannister treatment. Only time will tell if Bannister was a stand-alone incident.

Just remember too, the Bannister Mall and the whole complex of shops there didn't fall victim to a decaying surrounding neighborhood. As far as I'm aware the neighborhood now is about the way it was when the stuff was built. At least it didn't decay any more than you'd expect during a probably thirty-year time period. Only fifteen for a lot of the shops other than the mall itself.

Plus, how much did the mall suffer when Wal Mart went in?

[ember]

It was the early nineties when WM built the Hypermart there and it was only one of probably a hundred (?) across the country. .

Wikipedia says they only built 5.

I just love how Kansas City, Kansas has went from a slum to having all the neat stuff they've got out around Cabela's

That label still fits quite well for everything east of ~25th street. There was/is apparently a gang that would jump teachers as part of their initiation very recently.

KC is just a gas stop along 70 to me now.

You need to take a new look a KC then. The number of good attractions is jumping fast. Wait for Schlitterbahn to open their waterpark and the whole metro will benefit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlitterb ... on_Village
Legoland would be a huge score as well (there's only 5 in the whole world!).
http://www.lsjournal.com/articles/2007/ ... 02lego.txt

[slow_walker]

Maybe it's just me, but everytime I see there's a new post on this subject I am completely baffled as to why this thread won't die.