‘Inappropriate’: Lee’s Summit mayor criticizes water park canceling Black family’s party
Update: Chris Evans, who said his son’s birthday party was canceled Saturday at Summit Waves water park, spoke at a news conference Tuesday and said his family was discriminated against. That story is here.
Lee’s Summit Mayor William Baird urged the city’s Parks and Recreation to “re-evaluate their approach” after officials abruptly canceled a Black teenager’s birthday party at a city water park over the weekend.
The party was canceled after employees at Summit Waves Aquatic Facility became aware of social media posts advertising the event, “raising concerns about the safety of party guests and the possibility the event would grow beyond the capacity of staff,” parks officials said Monday in a news release.
An investigation into the incident is underway, according to Mayor Baird. Certain processes should have been done to address any safety concerns and patrons should be treated with dignity and respect, he said in his statement.
The mayor also denounced “inappropriate and insensitive” comments made by a Parks and Recreation manager at Summit Waves and social media posts by a Summit Waves employee following the incident.
“We must intentionally embrace a culture that is welcoming and inclusive, and we must continually denounce any urge or impulse to exclude,” he said.
“The comments were appalling and not condoned by Parks and Recreation, and are inconsistent with the culture I know the City of Lee’s Summit strives to reflect.”
Officials were asked to meaningfully address the concerns of the Evans family, who rented event space at the park for Saturday night to celebrate their teen’s birthday.
A social media post from Saturday evening shows Chris Evans, the teen’s father, talking to a park official after being informed the party was being canceled.
In the video, Evans asks why park staff were uncomfortable. One person on the recording says, “because we are Black.”
@kansascitydiscover Kansas City youth denied access to summit waves a water park in Lee Summit, Missouri due to their skin color. Yesterday a youth age private party was canceled on his birthday because summit waves owner said she “ didn’t feel comfortable “. She proceeded and told the group “ that they didn’t represent summit waves”. She told the group that she’d refund them their money and proceeded to shut the pool down. However guards have been caught making racist slurs on Snapchat towards the group since being outed.#racism #sadstory ♬ original sound - KC Discover
Evans declined to comment Monday afternoon and referred calls to his attorney, who could not be reached.
The parks and recreation department also declined to comment on the claims that the Evans party was denied entry because of racism, saying the press release contained all the information that they were releasing at this time.
Despite the cancellation, about 500 teens arrived in Summit Waves parking lot, according to the news release.
The aquatic center offers after-hour party rentals of its entire facility for various sized groups — small groups of 100 or less guests, medium groups of 100-250 guests and large groups of 251-1,400 guests, said the park’s website.
