The neglected building which once housed Shalom Geriatric Center at 7801 Holmes and the blight it leaves on the surrounding area has been brought to city attention.
A recent opinion piece in The Kansas City Star quotes a local resident calling the building “The Hellhole on Holmes” and showing the reporter “tiny liquor bottles, discarded trash and, sure enough, human waste” surrounding the building. Located near the Waldo neighborhood, where Kansas City, Missouri, is making significant investments, the building and the people who trespass or live in it seriously concern nearby residents.
Shalom Geriatric Center was the predecessor to Village Shalom, which sold the Holmes building after it moved to its current campus in Overland Park in 2000. The subsequent owners of the building have allowed its deterioration.
According to The Star, Kansas City is “evaluating the property under its dangerous buildings code and considering whether to pursue receivership, a legal tool that could force action if the owners continue to let the building rot.”
This situation follows the deterioration and eventual demolition of the former Jewish Community Center building nearby on 82nd St. and Holmes after city government intervention.
The area off Holmes Road was once a center for Jewish life in Kansas City, where the former building of Congregation Beth Israel Abraham and Voliner still stands as a church.
