KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There’s a visual void to fill in one metro neighborhood after a popular Kansas City mural was partially painted over.
People who frequent the popular Crossroads Arts District might have noticed the “Kansas City I’m So in Love” mural has been partially painted over and the neighboring angel wings are completely covered.
But the building’s owner felt there was a good reason to make the change.
Boutique owners at Fortuity have relocated to the Country Club Plaza, but in the past, they used a location on Baltimore Avenue in the Crossroads as a warehouse. Their popular “Kansas City I’m So in Love” slogan was a mural outside.
Ellie Ruby came up with the slogan and the mural design to begin with. Over a year’s time, Ruby said she looked on as thousands of people came to have their photos snapped with the Kansas City slogan or the angel wings — until the mural was altered in August.
“I didn’t realize how big it would get,” she said. “I had hopes it would.”
Ruby said the building’s owner was driving past the warehouse one afternoon and noticed a crowd of teenagers parked on the lot, even though posted signs instruct drivers not to block the murals. When those teens tried backing out of their parking space, Ruby said the owner was horrified to see the kids in the car nearly run over some people in the process.
“He witnessed a grandma with some grandkids and some girls who had chosen to park there besides the signs that say ‘no parking’,” Ruby said.
And for safety’s sake, the property owner said the mural had to be changed. The angel wings, which were popular with shutterbugs, were painted over.
“I think at this point it needs to come down,” Ruby said. “He said, ‘I called myself a dirty, dirty rat because I know it brought so much joy to people,’ and he felt so badly he took it down.”
Ruby said the mural may take on new life. She said she’s working on a plan that will bring back the mural to a different location, but she doesn’t know exactly where the celebrated mural will make its comeback.
However, she assures FOX 4 News it will be in a safe place, and she hopes those crowds come back to visit.
FOX 4 News was unable to make contact with the company that owns the warehouse. It’s now vacant, and on the market for sale.