Results of the RHA Gardens & Architecture Tour 2025
May 17, 2025 dawned as the day of our long planned Gardens and Architecture Tour of
Rockhill. The tour was planned by the Rockhill Garden Club to help our neighborhood celebrate
50 years as the first nationally designated historic neighborhood in Kansas City. The weather on
May 17 could not have been more perfect.
The tour featured over 30 homes and 8 different garden, and included vendor booths,
musicians, a food truck, and Betty Ray ice cream (they sold out). We sold almost 600 tickets,
with many more tickets given to volunteers and sponsors. We know this as we purchased
700 tour booklets, and more had to be purchased by a volunteer, who wanted to ensure
that each home in Rockhill received a booklet.
We could not have been more pleased with how neighbors stepped up to make their property
show at its best. Throughout the spring there were an unusually large number of homes painted
and tradesmen of all sorts on the streets. A visitor to the neighborhood on the evening of May
16 commented that she heard lawn mowers throughout the neighborhood as everyone prepared
to make sure even the grass looked its best. Our neighborhood never looked so beautiful!
We want to thank the neighbors who volunteered to welcome guests and to help us in our
gardens. A special thanks to Karen Moninger, who secured a large group of Master Gardeners
as volunteers.
Volunteers at our welcome booths reported glowing comments from guests, many of whom
returned to the welcome booths after the tour with high praise. One person was quoted as
saying she goes to many garden tours, but ours was the BEST she’d ever attended. Gardeners
commented on how visitors were friendly, grateful and respectful of their property. There were a
couple of outliers, such as the ladies who insisted on posing for photos in rather interesting
positions by the Sessions’ pool. More than a few guests made themselves very much at home
as though imagining a life of leisure in our gardens.
A frequent question from visitors was, “Are you doing this again next year?” The answer to that
question is.no; however, in 5 years, maybe?
Click Image to learn more about the event background.
Update on the Bike Lanes on Rockhill Road.
By Jim Wanser
The Public Works Department of the City of Kansas City has shared that the funding for the
completion of the bike lanes on Rockhill Road has been budgeted. The work from Cleaver II
Blvd up the hill and down Gillham Road West to Gillham Road is set to begin in August or
September. While no final designs have been shared, department liaisons have indicated that
the design, as requested by the neighborhood, will be consistent with what has already been
built on Cleaver II Blvd. and Rockhill Road south of Cleaver II Blvd. They also shared their goal
of improving the safety of the intersection at 45th and Rockhill Road. Specifically, two
enhancements were in the preliminary planning stage.
The first would convert the three-way-stop into a four-way-stop. The conversion has had prior
consideration but there has been a concern that traffic would be backed up for vehicles heading
south from Gillham Road West. But for the residents of Rockhill we have all experienced the
confusion at the intersection by the current configuration. Secondly, to enhance the separation
of the traffic from the bike lanes, the concrete divide that would separate vehicles from cyclists
would be elevated to several feet for the curves that transition Rockhill Road down to Gillham
Road.
Again, we look forward to seeing the actual design details and bringing a degree of closure to
the ambiguity created by the partially completed bike lanes on Rockhill Road.
Click the photo on the left to read more:
