Council and community leaders discuss additional funding for Jazz District

The 18^th and Vine Historic Jazz District could be receiving another investment from the city, funds that are estimated to be about $7 million.

City council held a meeting Wednesday to discuss the possible investment following a Tuesday meeting where business owners and residents met to share ideas on how to improve the district, according to reporting from KCTV5 News.

The Jazz District has historically been ana popular area for black-owned businesses in the community.

“How do we create economic parity in this city how do we drive economic development?” Third District Councilwoman Melissa Robinson said.

Robinson is one of the advocates for the additional investment who says the district has not received the same amount of attention and resources as other districts in the city.

Disagreements over design and construction delayed the project, and then cost overruns delayed it even more, but by 1997 the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District was established. Cleaver, then the mayor, rerouted $14.2 million more in federal money from an industrial district to the Jazz District, according to reporting from Bloomberg CityLab.

One of the first “rebirths” of the district started with the passage of a sales tax revenue package – “The Cleaver Plan” – which included $22 million for the renovation of the 18th & Vine District, according to the KC Jazz District website.

In 2016, Kansas City invested around $27 million in a three-year plan to be used for projects in the district with money from the capital improvements fund and sales tax money.

Advocated say the funds would be used in part for starting new beautification projects and assigning more officers to routinely patrol the area, according to KCTV5.

The city council met to discuss the idea of allocating money for improvements, although no further announcements have been made.