Creativity and coloring skills earned several local children the opportunity to join in a historic Lenexa ceremony.

Fourteen kids were invited to participate in the groundbreaking event for the future Lenexa Justice Center on Sept. 13, 2022, after they submitted entries to the “Why I Like Lenexa Police” coloring contest.

The children got to join Mayor Mike Boehm, the City Council and other City leaders as the first group to dig into the soil on the Justice Center site at Prairie Star Parkway and Britton Street.

“It was fun for our team to see the coloring content submissions on ‘Why I Like Lenexa Police,’” said Police Chief Dawn Layman. “The kids did a great job, and we’re so glad they got to be part of the groundbreaking ceremony to kick off the Lenexa Justice Center Project. This Justice Center is being built with the future in mind, so it’s only appropriate that these young citizens played a part from the very beginning when the first shovel full of dirt is overturned.”