A group of Roeland Park residents are organizing in hopes of getting the possibility of a new public works building on the site of the Roeland Park Community Center off the table for good.

The Roeland Park council last month moved to deprioritize a proposal that would relocate public works options to the west side of the community center property, and instead focus on other potential solutions. Public works currently has a facility on the site of the former Roeland Park pool, which is being prepped for the development of a hotel and adventure course. As a result, the city needs to find a new home for its public works crews.

The proposal received a good deal of negative feedback from neighborhood residents when it came before the council in June. And while opponents of the idea were relieved that it had been moved to the back burner, they want to see it eliminated entirely.

“This space is considered a park/green space around the center. It would be within 100 feet of a child care center and directly behind private homes in a purely residential area,” said resident Jan Faidley, who is helping organize the effort. “We are circulating a protest petition to convince the council and staff that this is a very bad idea.”

Faidley and Tom Madigan, who is running for city council, are going door-to-door trying to get signatures.

“We plan to get as many signatures as possible and submit it to the full council, since speaking out against it at the workshop meeting last month did not convince them to take it off the table in committee.”