The City of Lee's Summit, Missouri, is a rapidly growing suburb in the Kansas City metropolitan area, with a population of nearly 90,000 residents. In 2004, the Mayor and City Council established a strategic goal to conduct a feasibility study for a cultural arts facility. A Cultural Arts Citizens Task Force was created to pursue this goal, but recommended in the fall of 2005, that the City should commission a Cultural Arts Plan prior to proceeding with a study for a specific arts building. AMS Planning & Research was selected to consult during a nine-month planning process.

In conducting research for the plan we learned of an anecdote from the turn of the last century that has served as a guiding framework for the Cultural Arts Plan. In the early part of the 20th century, a group of Lee's Summit citizens, mostly farmers, took up a collection of funds to purchase musical instruments for students in the public schools. Nearly 100 years later, the community is continuing its efforts in emphasizing arts and culture. With the support of professional City staff and an officially-empowered citizens Task Force, community leaders and stakeholders have contributed their time and efforts to chart a course for the future support of arts and culture in the community.

The City of Lee's Summit wishes to position itself not only as a safe and growing suburb with excellent public schools and a pleasant downtown, but as a City that values arts and culture and takes steps to promote and improve arts and cultural opportunities for its citizens and visitors alike. To these ends, the City's award-winning Cultural Arts Plan addresses key strategic areas to establish Lee's Summit as a community that values the arts, and to renew the commitment of its citizenry, much like those of more than 100 years ago, to supporting arts and cultural endeavors and opportunities for its young people.