Kansas City, Mo., has a heart, and it’s made out of trees.
Since 1990, a heart-shaped forest near the Kansas City International Airport has represented the city’s location in the “heart” of America. The forest spans 8 acres and has 1,674 trees, making it the largest heart-shaped forest in the world.
The idea for the Heart Forest was born at the first World Peace Conference held in 1987 at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
According to Bob Berkebile, one of the architects behind the Heart Forest, the conference was attended by local public officials alongside Robert Muller, former assistant secretary-general of the United Nations; Chief Jake Swamp, diplomat of the Wolf Clan Mohawks; and Leon Shenandoah, the leader of the Iroquois Confederacy.
At the conference, Shenandoah said that despite his travels around the world, he felt a “heart spirit” in Kansas City. He told the group they needed to create something that reminded generations of what it feels like to be in Kansas City, Berkebile said.
Muller suggested a heart-shaped perimeter of trees around the entire city, large enough to be seen from outer space.
“I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure that out, and had I done what Muller suggested, it would have been probably the most complicated land deal in the history of America,” Berkebile said.
Instead, Berkebile said his team settled for a heart that could be seen by planes flying in and out of the city, if not by astronauts in orbit.
In April 1990, Berkebile and fellow architect Rick McDermott led volunteers to start planting the forest. According to KCQ, the Aviation Department agreed to lease the land to the Heart Forest Foundation, an entity raising money for the project. By 2000, the forest was finished.
Although the planting was met with enthusiasm, the trees were largely left to grow on their own and visitors could only admire from a distance.
That is until 2021, when Berkebile and his partner Brian Weinberg co-founded the Foundation for Regeneration to bring the forest into public life — including opening up the forest for visits by partners, media, donors and more.
“We were working on other projects across town and rediscovered that this thing existed and that nobody had been there in 20 years, and we went and saw it and said ‘Well okay, we have to do something,’” Weinberg said.
One of the first major efforts for revitalization came in 2024 with the help of around 500 young adults from a church conference. The group came across the Heart Forest through a volunteer service platform called JustServe, according to Corrie Clasen, director of JustServe Kansas City.
“It’s beautiful the way that it is a symbolic living structure of the heart of America, and I thought that was really special, that we could help with something that’s almost like a piece of art,” she said.
Berkebile was excited by the sheer number of volunteers at the forest, he said. A helicopter took a photo of the group holding hands around the heart — an homage to a similar photo taken in 1990 when the forest was freshly planted.
News of the forest is also drawing attention to the importance of trees and greenery in Kansas, according to Joe Wheelock, manager of Heartland Tree Alliance, which works with volunteers to plant and take care of around 3,000 trees a year across the Kansas City metro area.
“Any way we can encourage people to get back out and have that connection with nature is good,” Wheelock said. “If it’s the heart-shaped forest that gets people in and engaged and wanting to see more of this in their communities, then that’s great.”
Berkebile also encourages people to go out and plant trees so they can experience the same joy he feels.
“I’ve planted a lot of trees, but to see this after these trees have become real trees and not just 3-foot switches; it’s amazing,” Berkebile said.
According to Weinberg, new plans for the forest include a clearer perimeter so the forest can be seen more easily from the sky, as well as a ceremonial space in the heart of the heart.
Berkebile and Weinberg had hoped to finish these restorations in time for the visitors from the 2026 World Cup to see it, but the renovation process wasn’t approved until the last week of June.
With these new renovations, Berkebile and Weinberg hope to make the forest more accessible.
Within the center of the forest lies a blue wooden box filled with letters. When people visit, Weinberg hands each person a piece of paper with a “Heart Forest” letterhead and encourages them to write whatever comes to mind.
When the letters are put into the box, visitors have asked to stay right there, in the heart of the heart, Berkebile said.
“They take their shoes off and they spend time there,” Berkebile said. “One woman even asked if she could have her wedding there.”
For Weinberg, the forest represents a constant fixture in Kansas City.
“There’s also something really special about the generations of people that have touched this project,” he said. Some of the trees in the forest were donated by people on behalf of deceased loved ones or sponsored by companies that no longer exist.
Berkebile said that he and Weinberg are especially motivated during this renovation project because they believe the need for the “heart spirit” is even more important today than it was in 1987. Now is the time to make sure everybody feels that spirit, he said.
“Weddings will happen there, I can tell you that for sure,” Berkebile said. “We’re now just restarting the construction work, which will allow that to happen safely and beautifully.”
