Families and municipal leaders in Kansas City, Kansas, celebrated new renovations at Boston Daniels Park on Wednesday.
The park, at Quindaro Boulevard and Waverly Avenue, is named after the first Black police chief of Kansas City, Kansas, and had fallen into disrepair over recent decades as the surrounding area saw a loss in resources and investment.
Now, though, “I think it's absolutely beautiful,” said Marilyn Baker, a Kansas City, Kansas, resident who went to the ribbon cutting with her daughter and grandchildren, Titus, who is 2, and Jacinta, 3.
The summer heat didn’t keep the kids from trying out the new and improved playground equipment.
“I think it's amazing,” Baker said. “I think it's going to be great for this community.”
In the three decades since the park was dedicated to Daniels, who died in 1995, his family has worked to fix up the park, an effort KCUR first covered in 2019. Its $1 million transformation now includes a larger playground area, green turf, solar lights, and a covered shelter for family and community gatherings.
Baker said the new playground means she has a place to take her grandkids after mass at Our Lady and St. Rose Catholic Church, across the street.
“For these young kids to have a place to come and play and hang out that's safe, it's very important,” she said.
‘Took blight and made it bright’
Boston Daniels worked his way up the ranks of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department for 25 years, starting as a recruit and ending his tenure as police chief in 1971. Daniels was known for his nonviolent approach to de-escalation and the respect and concern he showed to residents. He’s credited with modernizing the police department, increasing its size, implementing a citizens’ radio watch program and acquiring the city’s first police helicopter.
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner praised Daniels as a master investigator who never discharged his weapon in the line of duty. Garner said Boston Daniels Park is a living tribute to a man whose life defined the best of his city.
“We've taken this park back from blight and dysfunction, and made it something beautiful,” Garner said, “took blight and made it bright in honor of Boston Daniels.”
The park upgrade was also part of Garner’s efforts to transform Wyandotte County neighborhoods east of Interstate 635, and reinvest in areas that have seen blight and historic disinvestment.
“I wouldn't want to go out and have my family enter certain parks where swings didn't work, where there weren't any walking trails — parks that you didn't feel proud of,” Garner said. “We’ve got to change how we see things, and we’ve got to change how we do things, and we deserve better here in Wyandotte County in Kansas City, Kansas.”
The Unified Government collaborated on the park’s renovations with the Boston Daniels Corp., a local nonprofit launched by members of the Daniels family to focus on uplifting northeast Kansas City, Kansas.
“From the very beginning, our mission has been clear: to uplift the northeast area through art, healing, sustainable development, and the preservation of our historic and cultural value,” said founder and CEO Karen Daniels, the great-niece of Boston Daniels. “This has always been a community-first project.”
Current Kansas City, Kansas, Police Chief Karl Oakman, the second Black man to lead the department, also addressed the crowd Wednesday, as kids gleefully explored the new playground behind him.
“I think the park is a hit,” Oakman said. “And you know why? Because the young people aren't paying attention to anything. They're enjoying the park.”
