The former LKQ Mid-America Auto Parts on 19th Street near the Douglas County Fairgrounds is pictured in February 2023.

Longtime visitors to the Douglas County Fairgrounds could tell you common sights include horses, rabbits, chickens, and an occasional hairy hog that acted like it was raised on Red Bull energy drinks (That last one was only if my kids were participating in the 4-H swine show.) But close observers, if they turned their heads to the east, would notice another sight: Hundreds of broken down cars at the neighboring salvage yard.

That last sight soon will be gone.

The automotive salvage yard that has operated for decades along 19th Street, just east of the fairgrounds, has closed. The eight-acre piece of property is now up for sale, and the real estate agent told me plans are to remove the several hundred vehicles that remain on the property in April.

The property is owned by LKQ Mid-America Auto Parts, which used the location as a spot to store and dismantle vehicles that eventually are sold for parts to auto body shops, mechanics and do-it-yourselfers who need a used part or two to make their vehicle go.

While you might think of a salvage yard as a quintessential small business, this one actually is part of a very large multinational company. As such, LKQ is doing what many big businesses do: Consolidate. The real estate agent for the property said LKQ had decided to close the relatively small Lawrence location and use its much larger Topeka location to service the area.

“They have really expanded their Topeka facility,” Marc Bunting, a real estate agent with Countrywide Realty, told me. “They have about 80 acres there.”

The question fairground visitors and the many people who live along 19th Street may have is: What comes next? The property is zoned general industrial, which would allow for some of the more intensive uses that can locate in the city. Bunting said the property has had strong interest from a couple of individuals and inquiries from several other parties.

He said the property is being marketed as a business location, given its industrial zoning and its proximity to Lawrence VenturePark, which is the city-owned industrial park near 23rd Street and O’Connell. This salvage yard property is about a half-block west of the industrial park.

The property has about 20,000 square feet of building and shop space, and LKQ has it listed for $2.15 million.

In addition to being next to the developing business park, the property is more connected than it used to be. With the opening of VenturePark, the city connected 19th Street to VenturePark, which has created a bit of a new backdoor entrance into Lawrence.

If you recall, the city opened that stretch of street in December, which allows people to enter or exit 23rd Street at O’Connell Road. As a reminder, the city may temporarily close parts of 19th Street again this spring. Much of the pavement on the new street is temporary, as construction crews weren’t able to fully install the street before winter arrived. The city has said work will resume in the spring, and expects the road to be fully completed in May.

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Speaking of salvage yards, my credit cards following the holiday shopping season usually are in need of salvage. The strip has about as much magnetism as an algebra teacher on a Friday afternoon, the chip has begun to melt from overuse, and all that is left from the word “Visa” is the capital V. (I think that is the card’s way to remind me of who the victor was.)

The latest sales tax numbers from state revenue officials indicate maybe not everyone in Lawrence has those same problems. The state’s January sales tax report — which largely measures sales in the November period — shows Lawrence posted middle-of-the road numbers to kick off the holiday shopping season.

Lawrence sales tax collections did grow from the same period a year ago, but given inflation, it would be hard for that not to be the case. Lawrence collections grew by 4.5% from a year ago, but that total was below the statewide growth rate of 6%.

It is never wise to care too much about any one month of sales tax collections, and this first month report isn’t even the final word on how the holiday shopping season unfolded. The February report will show how sales were in much of December. But, nonetheless, the sales tax reports remain important in monitoring whether the city of Lawrence will take in enough money to adequately fund its budget, and it is frequently interesting to see how Lawrence retail activity is doing in comparison to other Kansas cities.

With that in mind, here’s a look at growth rates for the other major retail markets, which also largely underperformed the statewide average:

• Manhattan: up 11.6%

• Salina: up 9.1%

• Lenexa: up 6.0%

• Sedgwick County: up 5.7%

• Kansas City: up 5.0%

• Topeka: up 4.5%

• Lawrence: up 4.5%

• Olathe: up 3.4%

• Shawnee: up 3.2%

• Overland Park: up 0.1%

• Statewide: up 6.0%