Independence, Missouri, voters approved a $20 million bond measure Tuesday to address a backlog of repairs at five city-owned historic properties. Question 1 received 68.6% support, exceeding the four-sevenths majority, or 57.1%, required for passage. The funding will support renovations at the Vaile Mansion, Bingham-Waggoner Estate, 1827 Log Courthouse, Truman Memorial Building and Old Fire Station Number 1.
Support extended across the city. The proposal reached the required majority in every Independence precinct where at least two ballots were cast. City Council Member Cody Atkinson described the result as a clear decision to preserve local history and maintain places that residents could support both economically and as a community. Pam Fulmer, who has volunteered at the Vaile Mansion for 16 years, expressed relief and gratitude after the vote.
A preliminary funding breakdown presented to the council in mid-October proposed more than $6.6 million for the Bingham-Waggoner Estate and nearly $4 million for the Vaile Mansion. It also outlined more than $1 million for the Truman Memorial Building, about $985,000 for the former fire station and nearly $750,000 for the log courthouse. Those allocations remain tentative.
The vote followed community objections to a consultant's report last spring that effectively recommended transferring the properties to private investors. Brent Schondelmeyer, a volunteer with the Committee for Independence's Historic Sites campaign, said residents reacted strongly to suggestions that the sites were liabilities and could be sold to other parties for $1. He said that reaction helped bring the community together around finding another way to preserve them.
Atkinson also opposed the consultants' approach, saying their comparison with St. Louis did not fit Independence. He said the proposal strengthened his determination to secure preservation funding. Schondelmeyer viewed the election result as evidence of residents' attachment to the properties and said the bond approval would protect those civic and cultural assets for future generations.
For Atkinson, the buildings' importance also lies in the personal memories connected to them. He described residents visiting with grandparents, bringing relatives from out of town, going on first dates and taking photographs after weddings. Those experiences, he said, make the sites a distinctive part of Independence's heritage.
Volunteers had spent years attempting to raise the millions needed for deferred maintenance without securing enough money. Fulmer said they had no clear alternative if the measure failed. Property taxes will repay the bonds over the next 20 years. Because the bonds must first be issued and sold, renovation work is unlikely to start before the middle of 2027 or later.
The approval comes after voters rejected an April 2024 bond proposal that combined historic-site funding with improvements to a Parks and Recreation site. In that same election, residents rejected a separate justice campus bond measure but approved infrastructure bonds for roads, bridges and sidewalks.
