Parks Director Mark McHenry To Retire after a Generation of Leadership: KC Parks Director Mark McHenry is calling it a career after 44 years with the City of Kansas City, Missouri’s Parks and Recreation Department. He will retire at the end of 2018. Highlights of McHenry’s career include adding 34 parks, building six more community centers, doubling the size of the zoo, helping create the current World War 1 Museum at Liberty Memorial, and revitalizing Starlight Theater. He also modernized the department’s operations by increasing resident involvement in park planning, using Citizen Satisfaction Survey data to drive decisions, and updating technology used by employees.