The Paseo (Kansas City, Missouri)

The parkway holds 223 acres (0.90 km2) of boulevard parkland dotted with several Beaux-Arts-style decorative structures and architectural details maintained by the city's Parks and Recreation department.

[1] The name was suggested by the first president of the Parks Board, August R. Meyer (1851–1905), based on the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City.

[2] In 2019, the city council renamed the street to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd[3] and was immediately petitioned to subject the change to a citywide vote, in a strong controversy.

[6] From its start at Cliff Drive, the original alignment was changed to install the on-ramp to Interstate 35, then it curves slightly southwest and heads almost due south for most of its length.

The Paseo, conceived as a series of small parks, extended through a former slum area and contained intersections that featured a formal sunken garden, a pergola, and large fountains reminiscent of those at Versailles.

A beaux-arts pergola with Doric columns from 1899 designed by architect John Van Brunt, covered with wisteria vines in the parkway.
Bas-relief sculpture of August Meyer by Daniel Chester French , American sculptor.
The pergola when new