By Tony Madden
Belton wants to maintain its “small-town charm” as the city puts aside $2 million to revitalize the downtown area and Main Street corridor, officials say. New public spaces and amenities, ADA-compliant improvements, and more development opportunities could be around the corner as officials review community feedback on the project.
“The start of it will happen pretty quickly because we’ve already started prioritizing some money toward it,” said Joe Warren, city manager of Belton. “But this is a long-term vision and plan, so it’s, ‘What are we going to do in five and 10 years to make sure this downtown really is happening?’”
Community members shared input on improvements and learned more about the efforts at an open house event on February 9th. Displays at the meeting invited residents to place sticky notes on their priorities for an improved downtown. Options included improving streets and sidewalks, building out amenities along the railroad, bolstering connectivity to parks, shared trash locations, improving city hall and finally, a place to leave comments on the city’s downtown land use plan.
Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act is another goal of the revitalization. Much of downtown is not ADA-compliant, Warren said. The foremost issue faced by the area is walkability, according to the city. Additionally, the downtown area has not been a focus of the city’s road improvements in recent years. As a result, Main Street and its sidewalks have large cracks and potholes.
“It’s not easy for someone in a wheelchair. It’s not easy for folks who have limited mobility to get around and just walk down the sidewalks,” he said. “It’s not the safest environment even for folks who walk capably.”
Lisa Steele is a co-manager at Mary’s Mountain Cookies on Main Street in Belton. She said the business does what it can to comply with ADA guidelines. She added that downtown Belton hosts a number of events between spring and fall that would be improved by a revitalization project.
“The sidewalks and the streets — they just did patch jobs last summer, and you can’t tell,” Steele said. “You’ve got parades and kids running to try and get candy, and then, you twist an ankle in a pothole.”
Steele is also a mother of four who grew up in Belton and returned to raise her children. Still, she would like to see more improvements to downtown Belton.
“I don’t venture far from here,” Steele said. “I like old Belton, but it’s been neglected.”
Most of Belton’s housing and commercial developments in recent years have been focused on the city’s commercial corridors — not downtown. Vacant commercial buildings “here and there” are not uncommon in Belton, according to Warren. That’s why it isn’t just an infrastructure project. It’s also a plan to bring more businesses downtown and prime the area for more community events.
“These places in our downtown aren’t going to thrive if we can’t bring traffic to the downtown consistently,” Warren said. “And one way we can do that is by making it a comfortable, nice, clean space that people want to be in.”
The $2 million set aside by the city of Belton has been prioritized for fiscal year 2027, which begins on April 1, 2026. That might be too early to see downtown improvements start, according to Aaron Smullin, communications and marketing specialist for the city of Belton. The city must first prioritize projects before any specific one begins, he said.
Belton’s population is expected to reach more than 32,000 by 2050, according to projections from the city. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated just under 26,000 people living in Belton in 2024. As the city continues that growth, officials want to maintain the small-town feel Belton is known for.
“Part of what gives Belton its small-town feel is its downtown and its Main Street,” Warren said. “You can walk into the brewery and see the same people, and you see that sense of community. We just want to preserve that small-town feel, even though Belton is going to naturally grow because of its situation as a suburb in a metropolitan area.”
City officials will continue to interact with the public to get feedback on the downtown revitalization. Down the line, further efforts to bolster downtown Belton could include a new city hall. The current facility is “crumbling slowly,” Warren said. Belton’s city hall was built in 1972 and replaced an older structure built in 1906.
Communities are naturally skeptical about local government, Warren said. One challenge the city faces in revitalizing downtown is bringing on amenities and investments without making life more expensive for residents. Residents generally don’t want their taxes or water rates raised, he added. That being said, finding the necessary funding for the revitalization is still a major challenge.
But the city of Belton is generally fiscally responsible, and its continued growth helps bring in even more revenue, according to Warren. Revenue from continued residential, commercial, retail and restaurant development has allowed the city to reinvest the money in things the community needs, such as revitalizing downtown.
One idea provided at the open house was connecting downtown to Belton’s planned mixed-use development at 163rd Street and Turner Road via walking trail. Project plans show 600 homes and 80,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space to be built on Belton’s north side. The development was announced in November at Belton Mayor Norman Larkey’s annual State of the City Luncheon.
The changes to downtown Belton won’t be drastic or unrecognizable, Warren said. While the city might take inspiration from other area downtown revitalization projects, leaders want to emphasize maintaining Belton’s unique identity as downtown improvements are made.
“We’re not Lee’s Summit. We’re not Overland Park,” Warren said. “We can take a few lessons they learned in their downtowns and apply them. Ultimately, this is going to be a Belton-centered initiative.”