The City Inherits the Dream

By 1984, a unique public-private partnership had begun to take form on the Lackman-Thompson Estate. It was that year that Kansas City developer Hugh Zimmer purchased a significant portion of the Thompson property to build Southlake Business Park – today one of Kansas City’s largest and most technologically advanced business sites.

About the same time, Hugh Thompson moved out of the farmhouse and bequeathed the estate and 1.2 acres of land to the Johnson County Community College Foundation. It was the end of an era, to be sure. The voices of Thompson’s children and grandchildren had filled the house for nearly 80 years. Yet, as the property changed hands, an echo remained. It spoke of the dream that this house would continue to stand as a pinnacle of promise. It was an echo that the city, county, and even the state heard loud and clear.

In 1992, the Johnson County Museum secured a place for the Lackman-Thompson Estate on the Register of Historic Kansas Places – the only Lenexa structure to have received such an honor. Then in a pivotal move in the summer of 1996, the Johnson County Community College Foundation offered the estate to the City of Lenexa, provided that the city would preserve it and put it to good public use. The city agreed, and worked with many partners, including the Kansas State Historical Society to honor that condition.

The Story Continues

The City of Lenexa restored the original Lackman house, which now serves as the home of the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce, Lenexa Convention Visitor Bureau and Lenexa Economic Development offices. The city also restored the old brick barn; and now that barn, which once housed livestock and stored grain, is a hub of high-tech activities. The architectural design of the Lenexa Conference Center preserved the barn’s historical character, seamlessly blending the brick barn into a new era.

The Lackman-Thompson Estate has weathered many times and adapted to different eras. Polished by hardships, wars, work, invention and progress, it truly has become a jewel of Lenexa. Its endurance is due partly to quality construction, to those who lived there and to those who have the vision. And now, the story continues.