Page 29 of 36
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 12:48 pm
by flyingember
Why would I pay to go to an event that I can't try (buy) the competitors food?
It's just not worth it.
The best point against the event being more successful was the Star reported "hundreds" of people attended the parade. It was slightly cold. The photos back up their estimate on the numbers.
The February Snake Saturday parade draws roughly 100,000 people. I believe this number. It's cold then too.
And parking is horrible for it, people will walk 10 blocks for this event, proving parking doesn't need to be close for a good event, just that the area be nice to walk in.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 3:10 pm
by brewcrew1000
Yeah, I will probably never go because I cannot try the competitors food. Why not make it an event where you could buy the competitors food? It could be a huge event maybe it could even put it on par with something like the Taste of Chicago in terms of food festivals.
What other festivals would make it possible to sample something from every region of bbq in the US, where else could you sample something from Aaron Franklin, John Markus and Chris Lilly all in the same day? This thing could be Great American Beer Fest Big instead its just one big cock tease.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 4:00 pm
by flyingember
I think we covered this and there's a very scary food safety issue.
But I don't see why they couldn't get past this.
The royal gets a mass certification for the event. They then have contenders sign up to be able to sell their food to the public during certain hours. There's places that would love to earn a little money from their huge hunk of meat. Maybe you have to be a repeat contender to get this approval.
They do a check-in inspection that all safety items are on hand (gloves, sanitation supplies, thermometer, etc) and a few surprise inspections.
And then at that point you have a special sign for places to purchase from. These places have been basically cleared but that's not a full food safety guarantee with a sign saying this at the entrance. You go in knowing you're not getting full restaurant safety but it's probably ok.
And why would this fly? Because the food has to be safe to eat for the judging.
Or they could do a central selling area which has the equipment like hot tables, chafing dishes or the like. Contenders pay a nominal fee to access this area and keep all their earnings. Like the first # competitors that sign up can sell and get feedback on their food. But I like the sell from the booth idea more.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 5:20 pm
by KCLofts
I think you guys have unreal expectations.
This is first and foremost a competition - and a very serious competition for some. I would say 99.9999% of the competitive teams have no interest in serving the public. The rest of the non-competitive teams are corporate parties or just a group of friends whose sole purpose is to entertain a certain group and they are surely not equipped for producing mass quantities of food for the duration of the event. Nor do they probably have any motivation to do so. But there is certainly an opportunity for licensed vendors to serve as much food as they can make. Recruit 10 or so vendors who are only there to feed the crowd and make money - in addition to the normal variety of food trucks that are already in attendance.
That being said, there are typically several tents that you can get into, either by buying tickets in advance, or making a donation at the door.
Saying you won't attend the AR BBQ because you can't try the competitor's food is akin to saying "I won't go to Chiefs games because they won't let me on the field to play catch with my buddies." But that is certainly your choice. For me, it is one of my favorite KC events of the year and I can't recall many that I have missed since I started going in 1992. Unfortunately, I was out of town this year and couldn't make it.
Which leads me back to my original question - are there any reports from folks who actually did attend?
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:18 am
by brewcrew1000
^But what is appealing to watching a bunch of people cook food on a grill if you cannot eat the stuff? The Chiefs play a game and you are watching it, thats what you paying for. If its that serious of a competition then do not charge 15 bucks to get into the event. You think people would want to go to a beer festival if all they could do was look at the beer and maybe smell it and interact with the different breweries because its a serious competition.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:14 am
by kcjak
Just seeing some of the event on the news (this was on Saturday), there WERE food vendors selling BBQ, although not the active competitors. I had to laugh that one that I saw was Zarda.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:18 am
by grovester
I guess the proper analogy would be a craft beer fest where all you could buy was budweiser.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:47 pm
by DaveKCMO
i won't go to the chiefs because i can't eat them.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 2:23 pm
by flyingember
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:24 pm
by bobbyhawks
If I were in charge, I'd have a section that was called something like Champion's Row, or the Smoke Ring of Honor, to fit in with the puns. There would be an open invitation for past winners to serve food (would need to confirm the same cooks are involved), and Hall of Fame invitees would also be able to serve food. Instead of paying for some crappy washed up band to perform, they could even pay a guarantee fee to targeted invitees so they wouldn't drive a food truck into town for nothing.
The public could vote ala All-Star ballot, maybe even buy a "judges pass" that is good for a sample plate from each vendor. Then, some high dollar team that has no hope of winning either the open or invitational can claim to be the "People's Champion" at the American Royal. That banner would be a pretty big value to the participants, even though it would just be a popularity contest with a lot of potential for pandering. If you could dangle a 1 in 10 or 20 chance of winning over the heads of former competitors and existing restaurants, I'd think people would be interested.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:36 pm
by pash
.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:38 pm
by flyingember
The star and pitch both did big articles saying the same
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:41 pm
by pash
.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:49 pm
by joshmv
I'm guessing Lamar Hunt Jr. wouldn't be terribly excited about that situation, but a minor league hockey team down there would be great, especially if it's affiliated with an NHL club.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 10:55 am
by TheBigChuckbowski
Hockey in Kemper would be awesome but the plan is absolutely no competition compared to Foutch.
They wouldn't take Kemper off the city's hands, the team would have competition 20 minutes away and it could easily fold in a year. Foutch's plan makes way more sense.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 11:53 am
by flyingember
-and- this company could easily bring the hockey team to the Sprint Center.
Nothing about their plan requires Kemper to work.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:16 am
by aknowledgeableperson
Minor league hockey has been tried and failed quite a few times in Kemper without competition from another local team/arena in the picture. True, the present team could relocate but it has a lot going for it in Independence.
Anyway, the ice making equipment in Kemper is old and would probably need to be replaced and that is not a cheap thing to do.
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 5:53 pm
by FangKC
Kansas City Council prepares to review two competing Kemper Arena proposals
...
A representative of Wichita businessmen Rodney and Brandon Steven has confirmed to The Star that they have a serious proposal for repurposing Kemper Arena. That would be a competing proposal to one submitted by Foutch Brothers of Kansas City.
...
Foutch Brothers, a Kansas City company specializing in historic restoration, had long made known its desire to repurpose Kemper as a regional complex for amateur youth, family-oriented and adults sports, including basketball, volleyball and other athletics. Foutch has said it has major investors interested in financing the project.
But this week, Greg Ferris, a consultant to the Steven brothers of Wichita, confirmed that they have also submitted a proposal for the arena.
The Steven brothers own Genesis Health Clubs as well as car dealerships and a stake in several hockey teams. Ferris said they specialize in taking over troubled businesses and making them successful, and that’s what they want to do with Kemper Arena.
He said they envision acquiring the arena and using it for smaller concerts, junior hockey club teams, other indoor sporting events and other entertainment that can attract a few thousand people but don’t need the 15,000-seat Sprint Center.
“They have deep pockets,” Ferris said.
...
They initially plan to hear the two presentations behind closed doors, but Taylor said that once they have a better idea of the viability of those plans, the council will hold public hearings to determine the best reuse of Kemper Arena.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/business ... 04328.html
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 12:20 pm
by flyingember
There's good detail on Kemper in this 2002 Pitch article
It shows one aspect of how bad politics in the past doomed it.
http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/the-fal ... id=2167513
Re: American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 11:56 pm
by FangKC
Report: American Royal, hockey would share new KCK arena
A proposed project would pull the American Royal to Kansas City Kan., and team it with a hockey arena and children’s museum, The Associated Press reports.
The proposal would include construction of a 5,000-seat arena that would be used for the American Royal’s agricultural events and for hockey. Also part of the plan are a children’s museum expected to draw at least 100,000 visitors a year and a hotel.
...
A spokesman for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., told The AP that details of the plan have been in flux. He said the American Royal and state approached the county with the development.
The plan may not have as many fans in the state capitol. Lawmakers have questioned forgoing $42 million a year in sales tax revenue for the American Royal project.
“God, we’re dead broke,” Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, said. “This is beginning to border on financial malpractice."
...
http://tinyurl.com/h88kvan
