Public forum today to allow comments on renaming J.C. Nichols memorials

A push to rename the Nichols fountain and parkway is met with heated opposition.

Thursday evening will be the first chance for the public to weigh in with their thoughts regarding the highly debated renaming of J.C. Nichols Fountain and Parkway.

Recent events across the nation involving racism have had a sweeping effect in cities across the U.S., protesters now turning toward long-standing monuments.

In Kansas City, protesters over the last week have focused their attention to two memorials celebrating J. C. Nichols and his accomplishments, which include the development of the Country Club Plaza and Brookside.

The current push by protesters is to rename the memorials after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., although there is much opposition to this suggestion as many members of the community wish to keep the current names in honor of J.C Nichols. 

According to reporting from KSHB, some leaders in the local black community oppose to the name change after King. “While renaming J.C. Nichols Parkway could make a statement about this generation’s regret of the society’s past wrongs, naming it after Dr. King is not appropriate,” Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater KC President Dr. Vernon Percy Howard, Jr. said.

The first of two public meetings to discuss the memorials will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center at 3700 Blue Pkwy, Kansas City, MO 64130. The next will be Wednesday, June 24 on a virtual platform.