Crumbling KC shopping center, once a hub for neighborhood kids, burns down

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Crumbling KC shopping center, once a hub for neighborhood kids, burns down

Once a hub for neighborhood kids, the now vacant Robandee Shopping Center on Bannister Road in Kansas City, which years ago fell into disrepair, burned down Sunday night.

And as officials work to determine what caused the blaze, area residents are reminiscing.

The commercial strip mall, located in the 8300 block of E. Bannister, broke out in flames during the evening hours of June 1, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins, spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department.

Kansas City firefighters were on site by 9:30 p.m., working to put out the heavy fire. The fire was successfully extinguished and no injuries were reported, according to Hopkins.

Fire damage caused to Robandee Shopping Center.

‘A staple of the neighborhood’

The shopping center had been a Kansas City fixture for years, since the 70s, said local resident Billy Grant. The center was the hangout spot for her and the other neighborhood kids, she said.

“The shopping center had been a staple of the neighborhood,” said Grant.

As a teen, Grant worked at the supermarket that used to be in the strip, she said.

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, she added.

“It’s been crumbling,” she said.

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Robandee Shopping Center fallen into disrepair.

Grant and other area residents have heard a lot of speculation about the cause of the fire, she said. She suspects it may have been caused by homeless individuals or vandals, but doesn’t yet know if that’s the case. The vacant property has been vandalized before, she said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by KCFD, which issued a dangerous building order.

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