Swope Park

Swope Park is an 1,805-acre city park in Kansas City, Missouri. It is the 51st-largest municipal park in the United States, and the largest park in Kansas City. It is named in honor of Colonel Thomas H. Swope, a philanthropist who donated the land to the city in 1896. In the 1,769 acres (7.16 km²), it hosts Starlight Theatre, an 8,000+ seat outdoor theater; the Swope Soccer Village sports complex; the Kansas City Zoological Park; ten shelter houses and a host of athletic venues including baseball diamonds, soccer fields, a swimming pool, a disc golf course and Swope Memorial Golf Course, a public golf course that hosted the 1949 Kansas City Open Invitational, a PGA Tour event. Also located in the park is the Lakeside Nature Center, one of Missouri's largest native species rehabilitation facilities, which serves as an environmental educational center.