KANSAS CITY, Kan. — With the state of Kansas on the road to recovery and after being closed for nearly two months, Legends Outlets and Oak Park Mall announced Monday they are working on plans to safely reopen the shopping center.
“The health and safety of its retailers, guests and employees remains to be the top priority, and the center will implement many new social distancing and community safety measures recommended by the Wyandotte County Health Department,” the company said.
Legends said they are currently in the process of determining their reopening date and are working with county officials as well as tenants on a timeline that will enable everyone to provide a safe and comfortable shopping environment.
During the mandatory stay at home order that began on March 24 to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the company said they have remained focused on deep sanitization throughout the center. They introduced a hospital-grade touchless sanitation machine to increase cleanliness and productivity to common areas, restrooms and corridors. They also used this time to make updates and improvements around the center, such as:
- Sandblasting and repainting benches, stairwells, poles, and railings
- Power washing all trellises and awnings
- Enhancing landscaping
- Installing new LED lights in the parking garage
- Repairing concrete around the center
Legends said the shopping experience will be a bit different for guests the next time they visit.
As Legends prepares to reopen the center to meet the needs of the community, they are taking the following steps to place health and safety above all else:
- Working with the security team to control access and flow of traffic through the center and to pinpoint high areas of concentration throughout the center and parking lots
- Encouraging social distancing throughout the center; using signage and decals to help customers practice social distancing
- Requiring retailers and restaurants to reconfigure their spaces to accommodate the 6-foot social distancing recommendations
- Restructuring common areas to safely provide comfort and enjoyment with proper social distancing
- Installing no-touch step and pulls on all restroom doors
- Closing levels two and three of the parking garages; closing the escalators and elevators
- Turning off drinking fountains
- Installing hand sanitizer stations throughout the center to ensure employees and guests have access as needed
- Providing masks and latex gloves for employees
- Offering free onsite temperature checks, disposable masks and sanitizer wipes for guests upon request
Housekeeping and security partners have added additional hours and equipment for cleaning and sanitizing throughout the day as well as after-hours, with a focus on high-touch points and high-traffic surfaces.
Legends said at this time several retailers are working on plans that will allow shoppers to place their order online or over the phone and pick up in-store.
Oak Park Mall will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
“The health and well-being of our customers, employees, retail partners, and the communities we serve is always a top priority, the mall said on Monday. “As such, we have implemented a number of protective measures to keep our employees, retail partners, and community healthy. We are closely monitoring updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and will follow guidelines put into place by the CDC as well as other local health and governmental agencies. We ask that the public exercise good judgment when visiting the property; including following CDC guidelines for social distancing and hygiene practices. We also ask that anyone with a fever or experiencing other symptoms, to stay home.”
Oak Park Mall is taking the following measures:
- Following all applicable guidelines set forth by local officials and/or health departments.
- Encouraging everyone on property to follow social distancing guidelines.
- Prohibiting groups of more than 10 people congregating in the mall common area.
- Cancelling or postponing all mall events until further notice.
- Closing the following public gathering areas:
- Food court seating area
- Children’s play area
- Soft seating areas and common area gathering spaces
- Drinking fountains
- Requiring mall management staff to wear masks while in common areas, public spaces or when other individuals are present.
- Requiring all vendors and contractors to wear masks in the common areas, public spaces or when other people are present.
- Encouraging our retailers to provide their employees with masks and that employees wear masks while interacting with others, when in the mall common area or public spaces.
- Placing hand sanitizer units throughout the property.
- Conducting temperature checks on all mall management, security and janitorial staff upon the start of each shift. Requiring that anyone with a fever of 100.4 F or higher and/or anyone experiencing other symptoms return home and contact their healthcare providers.
- Increasing the frequency of cleaning and sanitizing all high-traffic common areas with an enhanced focus on all touch points with CDC-recommended cleaning agents.
- Requiring each store and restaurant to follow applicable guidelines set forth by relevant government orders; which could include but is not limited to: occupancy restrictions, social distancing markers in checkout lines, cleaning and sanitizing procedures, and the closure of fitting rooms.
Click HERE for the list of retailers or restaurants that are open.
As of Monday afternoon, Kansas has reported 7,116 cases of COVID-19 with 158 deaths.
