

It’s no secret that throughout the 1990s and even into the early 2000s downtown Excelsior Springs was not the safest or most welcoming spot in the area. Vacant storefronts lined Thompson Ave. and Broadway, with only a few shops hanging on. But about 10, maybe 15 years ago things began to shift. Scrappy entrepreneurs and restauranteurs saw past the dust and decay and worked to establish themselves and make a go of it. More folks began to see the potential of the downtown and a shared vision emerged, of a revitalized downtown that harkened back to the heyday of the once-great tourist destination. Downtown business owners and community leaders banded together to form the Downtown Excelsior Partnership (DEP) to promote positivity and help stretch their marketing efforts. Their volunteer efforts could only take them so far, but luckily (and through hard work!) they were able to find funding to hire a full-time director to guide the organization.
Enter, Lyndsey Baxter. A 2006 graduate of ESHS, Lyndsey said she never dreamed she’d become one of the champions of Excelsior Springs. Growing up here she says she imagined a life in the big city, “I was that girl who’d say I’m going to Nashville or California, all I knew was I was getting out of here,” she laughed. After finishing her Master’s Degree in School Psychology, she decided that spending the next 25 to 30 years in the school system wasn’t really her dream. She came home to spend some time with her family while she developed a plan. When she returned to Excelsior Springs she found that her mom, Carol Baxter, had gotten involved with DEP. At first, Lyndsey thought her mom was crazy, all she remembered were the empty stores and abandoned buildings. “I remember at first thinking, ‘why would she do that?’ but then the more I learned about what was going on I could see that people were really trying to make it a better place, and it made sense,” she said.








In 2014, Lyndsey landed the position as the Director of DEP where she began to find her groove. She said that when she took on the role many of the first stepping stones had already been laid. Members of DEP had established a CID to get some revenue flowing, and she had a strong group of committed community members. She said DEP grew from holding events to bring people to the downtown, into a full-on economic development with a mission to fill storefronts and revitalize the downtown. “It hasn’t happened overnight, and we still have a lot of work to do… we’re getting really, really close to a 0% vacancy rate, which is very exciting… When I started our vacancy rate was closer to 37%,” she said. She predicts that within the next five years the will be 100% occupancy and things will continue to improve.


Lyndsey gives credit for the exponential growth of the downtown to the members of DEP and the support of the community. “We have about 70 people that are active every day, putting some sort of thought process into how can we get better? What can we do more of? How can it be great? What downtown has accomplished is not because of me, it’s because of all of those people coming to the table, giving up their time to make it all happen,” she said.
Lyndsey’s gift has been her ability to coordinate and work with a wide variety of people getting them to move together, and helping them to find common ground. She said DEP has multiple projects happening seemingly all at once, whether it’s the upcoming Barbecue Fly-in, or one of the other numerous festivals such as Winefest, the Chocolate Tour, or the downtown Christmas Parade, and their success is due in large part to the dedication of the volunteers. “I guess I’m good at coordinating, organizing people. I think my psychology background definitely helps in dealing with all of the personalities,” she laughed.
Now Lyndsey lives in Kings Addition in the house she grew up in. Although she had dreams of getting away, Excelsior Springs is all the better to have her here serving as a leader and helping to create a thriving community, with her skills, devotion, and vision. “This is my passion, I’m thankful for finding my way home, and I’m grateful for the support of my community, I am not successful in my position without the people that are around me,” she smiled.
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Lyndsey is the perfect director for the downtown In Excelsior Springs. She handles herself very well. I enjoy witnessing her energy and brilliance.