Wally Kennedy: Real estate firm aims to 'shine a spotlight' on Union Depot

May 6—Some people just won't give up.

You could say that David Glenn's interest in Joplin's historic Union Depot, nearly hidden from view at First and Main streets, is a beautiful obsession. But there's nothing beautiful right now about the depot. It's an embarrassment. Graffiti artists — and not particularly talented ones — have defaced the property. The homeless seek shelter there. It's a mess.

When I learned this week that the Glenn Group, a Joplin-based firm that specializes in commercial real estate, would market and promote the property for redevelopment, I called and offered Glenn the name of a local therapist who I thought might help him with his obsession with the Union Depot. We laughed a lot at the notion, but he took her name just in case.

"All joking aside, this is a last-ditch effort to save the depot," he said. "We think there is someone out there who will see the depot as an opportunity."

For Glenn, the depot represents unfinished business, a missed opportunity. Forty years ago, Glenn was a local contractor. He had successfully relocated the Missouri Pacific Depot at 10th and Main streets to Range Line Road, saving it from certain destruction. The railroad company issued an edict that any unoccupied Missouri Pacific structure would be razed because of liability issues. Glenn recognized the historic value of the depot. His crews took it apart stone by stone, numbered the stones — all 4,500 of them — and reassembled the depot at its new site.

With that success under his belt, he was ready for an even bigger project: the Union Depot.

"After meeting with an architect in Springfield, I was hired as the contractor to restore the Union Depot because of my building expertise and my love of the building," he said. "An opportunity like that comes around once in a lifetime. When it failed, it was a huge disappointment for me."

The project failed because it lacked sufficient financial backing.

The Glenn Group, which includes Luke Gibson, will market the property for redevelopment in a new partnership with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office, which owns the property, and the Downtown Joplin Alliance, a nonprofit that seeks to preserve historic properties with questionable futures.

Before the partnership was formed, the state had no avenue through which it could market the property. The partnership permits the Downtown Joplin Alliance to market the property through the Glenn Group. The agreement took months to iron out.

"We are going to market it nationally to every commercial broker in the country," he said. "No one knows the depot is there. We are going to shine a spotlight on this opportunity."

Sephora at Kohl's

The Joplin Kohl's store, 301 Geneva Ave., will celebrate the grand opening of Sephora at Kohl's on Friday.

Sephora at Kohl's is a 2,500-square-foot facility that will offer an immersive beauty experience that mimics the look and feel of a freestanding Sephora. Beauty advisers will offer personalized beauty consultations and assistance with finding products, while testing and discovery zones serve up a rotating assortment of new, emerging or trending products.

Within all Sephora at Kohl's locations, shoppers will find a carefully curated assortment of prestige makeup, skincare, hair and fragrance brands, including coveted beauty brands such as Rare Beauty, NARS, Charlotte Tilbury, Kiehl's, Giorgio Armani, Olaplex, Clinique and Sephora Collection, as well as innovations in clean beauty and self-care.

In addition, six new prestige beauty brands — Murad, Clarins, Jack Black, Living Proof, Versace and Voluspa — will be added to the Sephora at Kohl's assortment this spring.

The Joplin store is one of 400 Sephora at Kohl's stores to open nationwide this year.

Spring carnival

The spring carnival, hosted by Evans United Shows, will take place through May 15 at Northpark Mall. There will be more than two dozen rides, food trucks and games.

The carnival opens at 6 p.m. on weeknights and at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Admission is free. Individual tickets for the rides are $1.25. Armbands are available for $25.

Contact Wally Kennedy at wkennedy@joplinglobe.com.