Loose Park is the third largest park in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, located at 51st Street and

Wornall Road Wornall Road is a major north–south road in Kansas City, Missouri. It is named for John Bristow Wornall, an early settler of Kansas City, whose estate still stands today as a museum. Route description Wornall Road begins at 42nd Street in th ...

. It has a lake, a shelter house, Civil War markers, tennis courts, a water park, picnic areas, and a Rose Garden. The Rose Garden hosts all types of outdoor special events including theatrical performances and wedding ceremonies. The Japanese Tea Room and Garden is a small traditional

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

conceived as a cultural exchange between the

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Kurashiki is a historic city located in western Okayama Prefecture, Japan, sitting on the Takahashi River, on the coast of the Inland Sea. As of March 31, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 483,576 and a population density of 1,400 persons per ...

, Japan and Kansas City, Missouri.

History

The original pasture belonged to Kansas City pioneer Seth Ward. During the

Battle of Westport The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West", was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union Army, Union forces under Major General (United States), Major G ...

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Confederate General

Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...

is said to have to commanded his forces from gun emplacements on what became the south end of the park. In 1897, Ward leased the land to the

Kansas City Country Club The Kansas City Country Club (KCCC) was founded in 1896 in Kansas City, Missouri and today located in Mission Hills, Kansas. The Country Club District and Country Club Plaza of Kansas City are named for the club, which claims to be the third ol ...

for its first golf course. In 1907

J.C. Nichols Jesse Clyde "J. C." Nichols (August 23, 1880 - February 16, 1950) was an American developer of commercial and residential real estate in Kansas City, Missouri. Born in Olathe, Kansas, and a student at the University of Kansas and Harvard Univer ...

bought land around the course to form the

Country Club District The Country Club District is the name of a group of neighborhoods comprising a historic upscale residential district in Kansas City, developed by noted real estate developer J.C. Nichols. The district was developed in stages between 1906 and 1950, ...

and

Country Club Plaza The Country Club Plaza (often called The Plaza) is a privately-owned regional shopping center in the Country Club District of Kansas City, Missouri. Opened in 1923, it was the first planned suburban shopping center and the first regional shoppi ...

. In 1925 when the golf club moved to

Mission Hills, Kansas Mission Hills is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,594. The east city limits is the Kansas-Missouri state line at State Line ...

the land became a city park. In 1926, Ella Loose bought the property from the Hugh Ward estate (the son of Seth Ward) so that it could be made into a park to honor her husband,

Jacob Loose Jacob Leander Loose (June 17, 1850 – September 18, 1923) was an American businessman who founded Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company. Biography Jacob Loose was born in Greencastle, Indiana on June 17, 1850. He attended high school in Decatur, Illino ...

. She gave the property to the city in 1927.

founded the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, which produced

Sunshine Biscuits Sunshine Biscuits, formerly known as The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, was an independent American baker of cookies, crackers, and cereals. The company, which became a brand on a few products such as Cheez-Its, was purchased by Keebler Company ...

and other products. In 1957, the Loose Park Garden Center was built at 5200 Pennsylvania Avenue for meetings and horticultural exhibitions of various kinds. The garden center has two large meeting rooms with small kitchens attached to the meeting rooms. In 1977, international artists

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...

selected Loose Park for their art installation concept called ''Wrapped Walk Ways'', consisting of of orange-yellow colored shiny nylon fabric and a budget reportedly exceeding . Mayor Charles Wheeler presented Christo with a key to the city for this brief project, which Christo described as "exquisite" and deserving of national front-page coverage. In 1979 Neal Patterson, Cliff Illig and Paul Gorup founded the

Cerner Cerner Corporation is an American supplier of health information technology (HIT) services, devices, and hardware. As of February 2018, its products were in use at more than 27,000 facilities around the world. The company had more than 29,000 emp ...

Corporation while on a picnic in the park. In 2006, the Japanese Tea Room and Garden was dedicated as a small traditional

. It was conceived as a cultural exchange between the Sister Cities of

, Japan and Kansas City, Missouri.

References

External links

* {{Kansas City, Missouri Urban public parks Geography of Kansas City, Missouri Parks in the Kansas City metropolitan area Parks in Missouri Tourist attractions in Kansas City, Missouri