Change comes to 35th and Prospect after strong message sent to problem businesses

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Two businesses under fire this week are now making changes. On Wednesday, a neighborhood activist reported, they agreed to close earlier to try to deter trouble.

On Monday, city and county officials joined community leaders outside a BP gas station on the southwest corner of 35th Street and Prospect Avenue. They vowed to crack down on businesses that allow loitering and criminal behavior.

Nine days prior, four people were shot at the intersection, and one of them died.

Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson spoke emotionally about what she sees at a liquor store on the northwest corner, where youth have been volunteering to clean up the area.

“These babies that are picking up trash every single day have to watch what I call ‘Club 35th and Prospect’ right here outside of Big D’s liquor,” Johnson said, “grown men sitting on milk cartons, gambling, smoking, doing drugs in the open air.”

Mayor Quinton Lucas promised accountability.“If you are harboring criminal activity, again, and again. And if you have been cited by Codes Enforcement, if we need to, we will shut you down,” said Lucas.

The youth who pick up trash work with Pat Clarke, a resident of the Oak Park neighborhood. He can be seen often sitting by his truck across the street from the gas station, doing outreach. On Wednesday, he saw something different.

“There’s no more hanging out. There’s no more crap games,” Clarke said. “Nothing on the side. The crates are gone.”

On Tuesday, the Kansas City Police Department, Fire Department, City workers, and others showed up in force to speak with business owners and customers at the intersection to follow up on the fiery demonstration the day before.

Clarke said he met with the owners of the BP and liquor store, one in person and the other by phone, a reached an agreement that they would close earlier in the night.

The gas station, which he said was previously a 24-hour operation, agreed to change its hours to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. An employee there was unaware of the change when KCTV5 visited, but a sign on the door indicated hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., close to what Clarke said they agreed to.

An employee at Big D’s was unaware of any change. The listed hours were 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Clarke said they were previously open until 1:30 a.m. every night and agreed to close at 1 a.m. across the board. He said he’d be talking with the owner to follow up.

“We came together as one and we got it done this morning,” Clarke said. “Now, how long this will last, I don’t know. But I do know that after 11 o’clock, after 1 o’clock, if there’s anybody on the premises, they gotta’ go.”

Johnson’s office said she was aware of Clark’s meeting with the business owners but was unable to attend.

Asked if Lucas was aware of the agreement, his office sent a statement chronicling the city’s efforts and expressing a positive reaction to the changes KCTV5 asked about.

The statement reads as follows:

Kansas City’s Public Safety Task Force was created after a mass shooting in 2023 at a business at 57th and Prospect that claimed to conduct auto repairs, but ran an after-hours nightclub, selling alcohol at all hours and receiving more than 40 calls to 911 and numerous neighborhood complaints. The business was not closed until after nine people were shot and three killed at the establishment during an after-hours party. The City will not tolerate the same behavior again. The City reviews businesses based only on complaints, repeated Code of Ordinances violations, and police calls for service on property. The City supports all businesses that follow the laws. Those rare businesses that break laws and harm Kansas Citians in the process will be held accountable. We are glad to hear initial reports that businesses that have been subject to formal complaints in the 35th and Prospect area are taking more steps to curtail violent and other unlawful activity on their premises.