Brad Moore - Global pulse News
  • Historic Johnson County trolley barn is getting a makeover to become this new business

    Historic Johnson County trolley barn is getting a makeover to become this new business

    Uniquely KC is a Star series exploring what makes Kansas City special. From our award-winning barbecue to rich Midwestern history, we’re exploring why KC is the “Paris of the Plains.”

    Few buildings in Overland Park are more iconic than the stone edifice on 79th Street downtown.

    In the early 1900s, it stored trolleys that transported Johnson County’s first residents to Kansas City. After cars put the line out of commission, the building became an auto repair shop, a towing company and a few other businesses. For the past few decades, it was Traditions Furniture, which closed last year.

    And soon — hopefully by November — it will be the site of “I do’s” and teary vows for brides and grooms.

    The old Strang Line Car Barn, 7400 W. 79th St., will soon become the Stone Manor on 79th, a new wedding venue.

    Keegan Glade, along with his parents, Doug and Tacia Glade, and their business partner, Brooklen Lewis, are working to transform the interior from furniture store to an elegant reception hall.

    Lewis has previous wedding planning experience. Keegan, however, comes from the finance world, while Doug has worked as an executive for several packaged goods companies over the years.

    Renovations have just begun and will include new bathrooms, new floors and an updated drop-down ceiling with a barrel, wooden roof.

    They’ll be keeping the exposed brick and historic charm, Keegan assured.

    “We’re trying to maintain the character of the building as much as possible,” he said. “It’s been a huge part of that community.”

    The Stone Manor will also contain a house bar and prep kitchen for events. Renderings are still being finalized.

    “It’s still got that beauty of this older European stone manor but has modern touches,” Keegan said.

    To book an event or schedule a tour, visit stonemanorkc.com.

    The Overland Park Historical Society — which has owned the building since the ’90s — sold the car barn to the Glades this year.

    Brad Moore, executive director of the historical society, said he’s glad to see the new owners keep the integrity and history of the building alive.

    “People will have the opportunity to go inside,” Moore said. “It’s not going to become … any kind of private office where the public wouldn’t have access.”

    Strang Line Car Barn circa 1910. It opened in the early 1900s, storing cars that ran Strang Line, from Johnson County to Kansas City. Overland Park Historical Society

    Strang Line Car Barn circa 1910. It opened in the early 1900s, storing cars that ran Strang Line, from Johnson County to Kansas City. Overland Park Historical Society

    In 1906, William Strang Jr. opened the Strang Line, a commuter railroad from Johnson County to Kansas City. Strang hoped the line would encourage families to move to the suburbs, since most still worked in the city.

    But Strang would need a place to store the trolleys that needed repairs. So, he opened the car barn around the same time.

    For a year and a half, the trolleys were self-propelled. Later, Strang decided to add wires above the track to power the cars, Moore said, so they wouldn’t stall out on steeper inclines. Strang expanded the old car barn and added two generators.

    A fire in 1920 gutted the inside and caved in the roof, but the stone walls remained.

    Passengers disembarked from a somewhat battered Strang Line railway car on July 9, 1940, the last day of the line’s operation and of Kansas City’s interurban system. File photoPassengers disembarked from a somewhat battered Strang Line railway car on July 9, 1940, the last day of the line’s operation and of Kansas City’s interurban system. File photo

    Passengers disembarked from a somewhat battered Strang Line railway car on July 9, 1940, the last day of the line’s operation and of Kansas City’s interurban system. File photo

    In 1940, the Strang Line went bankrupt and closed. But the car barn still stands tall today, albeit trolley-free.

    “It has stood the test of time,” Moore said. “It has weathered many storms and come out unscathed.”

    The original building was larger than what’s left today. Part of it was demolished decades ago to build the apartments behind it.

    “Of the original building footprint, I’d say 80% of it is still there,” Moore said.

    The Strang Line Car Barn has been in Johnson County for more than a century. Soon, it’ll be a wedding venue. Overland Park Historical SocietyThe Strang Line Car Barn has been in Johnson County for more than a century. Soon, it’ll be a wedding venue. Overland Park Historical Society

    The Strang Line Car Barn has been in Johnson County for more than a century. Soon, it’ll be a wedding venue. Overland Park Historical Society

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  • The Johnson County restaurant that nearly made it, but didn’t

    The Johnson County restaurant that nearly made it, but didn’t

    Uniquely KC is a Star series exploring what makes Kansas City special. Are you feeling nostalgic for a Kansas City area restaurant that closed years ago? Share your memories, and we may write about the place in a future story.

    Tucked among leafy tree branches, caged macaws and cockatoos watched from above as children plunged their greasy hands into piles of fries.

    Janet Day, then Janet Hermes, balanced plates of ribs and pecan pie. Her chestnut hair was swept back in a ponytail, a coral shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

    Her fellow waitresses wore matching skirts and wove through tables and tree trunks, where families order sirloin steaks for $2.55.

    Then, like clockwork, the birds opened their animatronic beaks and spoke. (What did they say again? Day couldn’t remember.) Whatever it was, every child in the restaurant turned in their seats, eyes lit, to listen.

    “It was a happy atmosphere,” she said. “We had lots of high chairs — I remember that.”

    Betty Crocker Tree House and Bake Shop featured animatronic birds that would turn their heads, flap their wings and speak. General Mills
    Betty Crocker Tree House and Bake Shop featured animatronic birds that would turn their heads, flap their wings and speak. General Mills

    It’s been 50 years since Day has heard the squawking of machine fowls at the Betty Crocker Tree House Restaurant and Bake Shop in Overland Park — years before the first Rainforest Cafe put restaurant tables among the trees. Then suddenly, it was gone.

    General Mills, a century-old giant in the food industry, opened four Betty Crocker Tree House Restaurants across the country in 1971 on a trial basis. The operations in Overland Park; Dallas; Scottsdale, Arizona; and Columbus, Ohio, closed practically overnight in 1974, said Brad Moore, executive director of the Overland Park Historical Society.

    Sorely missed, fondly remembered and in many aspects, a mystery.

    While the other three Tree House restaurants have since been demolished, only the Overland Park building remains, at 10600 Metcalf Ave. It housed a revolving door of restaurants: Overland Station, W.D. Frogg’s, Michael’s Plum, Italian Gardens. None ever rose to the level of wonder and excitement of Tree House.

    Each inexplicably lasted for no more than two years. After the fifth failed restaurant, operators figured the building had bad mojo.

    “I think it was rumored to be a cursed building if you wanted to have a restaurant,” Moore said. “So it stopped being a restaurant.”

    The building became a men’s store called Kuppenheimer Clothiers for 12 years, later AAA Travel Center, and today, Midwest Tinting.

    But to many longtime Johnson County residents, it’s still known as the old Tree House.

    The woodsy atmosphere of the restaurant made guests feel as though they were up in the trees. Overland Park Historical SocietyThe woodsy atmosphere of the restaurant made guests feel as though they were up in the trees. Overland Park Historical Society

    The woodsy atmosphere of the restaurant made guests feel as though they were up in the trees. Overland Park Historical Society

    In addition to his duties with the historical society, Moore runs a Facebook page with tens of thousands of other nostalgic Overland Park natives called, “We grew up in The OP!”

    There, they reminisce about their high school days, long-gone shopping malls and businesses that didn’t make their way into the 21st century. One restaurant comes up in conversation more than most: The group has no shortage of memories about the restaurant with talking birds.

    It certainly didn’t close for lack of interest, Moore said.

    “The kids loved it,” he said. “It would not be uncommon to have it be a packed house and have it be a wait.”

    Moore went to the Tree House himself as a kindergartner, marveling at the robotic birds (“I wish I could remember what they said. Nobody else seems to recall”), the pyramid skylights and buttresses that made the building look like it was standing on stilts. Trees shot up around the dining area, branches reaching up to the vaulted ceiling.

    The triangular “stilts” are still standing today, though the building’s distinct wood-paneling has been replaced with gray paint and yellowy vinyl.

    Instead of its tall signs shaped like triplet leaves, a navy sign for Midwest Tinting sits out front. A garage bay door opens in the back.

    Tree House could seat 266, according to General Mills, and contained a gift shop and bakery.

    Tree House’s offerings included hamburgers ($1.35), seafood platters ($2.75) and gelatin salad molded in the shape of animals, but its cakes were some of its most popular items. Moore showed a photo of him and his sister posing with her Betty Crocker birthday cake. A doll stands on a platter, the skirt of her cake-and-candle dress ballooning out.

    Created by AccuSoft Corp. Brad Moore (left), executive direct of the Overland Park Historical Society, remembers being envious of his sister's birthday cake from Betty Crocker Tree House./Brad MooreCreated by AccuSoft Corp. Brad Moore (left), executive direct of the Overland Park Historical Society, remembers being envious of his sister's birthday cake from Betty Crocker Tree House./Brad Moore

    Created by AccuSoft Corp. Brad Moore (left), executive direct of the Overland Park Historical Society, remembers being envious of his sister’s birthday cake from Betty Crocker Tree House./Brad Moore

    Moore stands off to the side, unsmiling.

    “I actually remember being a little jealous of that cake,” he said. “I thought to myself, ‘Do they make one with a GI Joe?’”

    Eighty-three-year-old Peggy Lee remembers taking her daughters, Christy and Jill, to the restaurant in their Sunday best after church services, chatting while they ate.

    Her special needs daughter, Jill, was especially captivated by the talking birds. (Though Lee can’t remember what they said, either.)

    “It was kind of a novel idea,” Lee said. “We were all very disappointed when it closed.”

    At the time, there were fewer restaurants on the Kansas side of the metro, thanks to strict alcohol laws that lingered post-Prohibition.

    “If you wanted to have a nice night out with a drink, you had to go to Missouri,” Lee said.

    That made Tree House even more of an anomaly.

    Ahead of Tree House’s opening in 1970, The Star teased the restaurant’s wholesome, family atmosphere, reporting that Overland Park was chosen as one of the four cities to test the concept because of its “Kansas City-can-do attitude.”

    “The project was created on the premise that there is a real need for family oriented restaurants,” The Star said. “The growing trees, natural sun light, high raftered ceiling and color scheme are combined to create an inviting mellowness.”

    Surely, if it were up to customers, the family-friendly restaurant would have stayed. But the decision was General Mills’, which ultimately wanted to invest resources in Red Lobster instead, according to a company statement.

    (General Mills’ restaurant division, Darden Restaurants, sold Red Lobster to Golden Gate Capital in 2014 for $2.1 billion.)

    Even with all the bells and whistles modern technology has made widely available, there’s nothing quite like Tree House in the Kansas City area today.

    Rainforest Cafe opened its first restaurant in Minnesota in 1994 and brought the concept to Overland Park’s Oak Park Mall in 1999, but it closed a decade later.

    T-Rex Cafe — Rainforest Cafe’s Prehistoric spinoff — was open in The Legends Kansas City from 2006 to 2017.

    And while nobody in Overland Park can, for the life of them, remember what the birds said, perhaps it’s not a memory lost in time after all.

    In a response to The Star, General Mills sent over fact sheets about the restaurant. According to their archivist, the birds turned their heads and flapped their wings as they chirped phrases like, “Rah, rah Audubon” (after wildlife artist John James Audubon, famous for his work “The Birds of America”). They sang a couple lines of “Let Me Call You Tweetheart.”

    Learning this, Moore let out a long laugh.

    “Well, that’s pretty amazing.”

    (Editor’s note: After The Star interviewed former waitress Janet Day, she died at the age of 65.)

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