April 4 election for stadium renovations?

[KCMax]

All-out blitz for stadium proposal

Jackson County officials agreed Tuesday to an ambitious schedule for getting a tax package together for an April 4 election.

And under consideration is giving Jackson County residents better parking at Chiefs and Royals games and reduced ticket prices.

The county hopes to persuade taxpayers to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of upgrades at the Truman Sports Complex in an effort to keep the teams in town through 2031 and avoid defaulting on the current leases next year.

Jack Holland, an adviser to Executive Katheryn Shields, said leases that the Chiefs and Royals agreed to as part of last year’s failed bistate election would serve as the foundation of negotiations with the teams.

County officials will hold a series of public meetings starting Oct. 18 with representatives of the teams present. After that, earnest negotiations with the teams will begin and should be wrapped up by Dec. 1, Holland told the Jackson County Legislature on Tuesday. Public hearings on the proposed ballot measure will be held in December and January.

The legislature would vote Jan. 23 on the package to place it on the April 4 ballot.

[kcdcchef]

allow me to be the one to get this fight kicked off real good.

TOLD YOU SO TOLD YOU SO  TOLD YOU SO  TOLD YOU SO    TOLD YOU SO    TOLD YOU SO   

this will make it onto the ballot, and pass, don't worry. and both teams will stay.

and as far as giving more incentives to jaco residents to pass this, good, i think it is cool that the joco fuckers pay more for the games and parking anyways, being is that they are too cheap to chip in.

no downtown baseball. as predicted.

[WoodDraw]

Uhhm, I don't think anyone ever said this wouldn't happen.  The arguement was about what should happen, not what will happen.  Our leaders' lack of any real vision was well known and predicited. 

[kcdcchef]

nope, our leaders represent the opinions of the majority of royals/chiefs fans throughout jax county, missouri, and nationally for that matter. noone is really ready to let go of the k or arrowhead. about half of the gung ho downtowners on this website that devote their lives to ripping down skywalks in downtown, opposing them, hatin' on surface lots, and in general freaking out about tearing down 9 story moldy funky crumbling in the way of progress buildings want a downtown stadium just for the hell of it, not for the good of the millions that use them.

[KCPowercat]

just a difference of opinion...not sure either is "right".

I think this giving JaCo closer parking and cheaper tickets could win votes but is a bad idea.

[Danny]

KCDCHEF,

[kcdcchef]

yes?

[Danny]

Sorry for the double post. 
I have been on the fence on this issue for awhiile.  Mainly because i just moved here from Portland, OR, and have a unbiased opinion between this Johnson County versus Missouri thing.  I will say however that there have been a couple of distasteful remarks against Johnson County, Kansas. 

I guess my point is, all i ever hear is Missourians (i reside now in Parkville)  ask for help to pay for the stadiums at i believe the Truman Sports Complex .  I for one, and beginning to believe the rumors and notions that Kansas City, Missouri has a very laid back, approach to things, and relatively is very conservative.

I've been to Royals stadium, and not to step on toes, but it was nothing special.  I mean, I wish people could see and feel the nostalgia of a SAFECO field, before they get all carried away.  Chiefs (Arrowhead) seems pretty nice, but you could just tell from the parking lot that it needs work.

My biggest problem is this, why not build a new football stadium for the Chiefs over in Kansas, and let Kansans pay for it, and then build a new downtown baseball stadium in Missouri? All I keep hearing is is that 'would be stealing'.  Who cares.  Nobody in Portland cares, or L.A. or N.Y.  I just think that its so pathetic that Jackson County is giving perks to Jackson County residents.  Aren't the Chiefs supported financially by both sides of the state? 

Signed,

Nobody gives a rats ass whether the Chiefs/Royals are in Missouri other than Michael and KCDChef.

Let's do what's best for KC, rebuilding two stadiums that are over thirty years old is just plain stupid.  This would be a no brainer in most cities, why is KC even considering this pathetic move? 

[kcdcchef]

most cities would laugh at building two new stadiums to replace two that are 32 years old, that most fans still love. most, the 600 or so on this forum do not represent the other million and a half in jackson county.

there are more than just me and micheal that care, but, btw, micheal wants downtown baseball in a bad way, so, me, and a few others. and dont compare the k to safeco, they had to build safeco, the kingdome was a dump, if you need a reminder of how bad it was, remember in 94 when the fucken roof was falling in and the mariners had to finish the season on the road!!!!!

and the premise of this thread, since you are having a hard time following the conversation, is that the referendum is going before the jacko people, since the platte and joco snobs wont pitch in, thats cool, the jacko people that built these parks will now pay to redo them, and coincedentally, get cheaper parking, cheaper tickets, and continue to get priority for season, and individual tickets. this is legal bribery, jax county will offer cheaper tix and parking to get people to finance this. i think it is BRILLIANT. because now this will only make the voters approve it faster. and to hold this on royals opening day ( or close to ) 2006, and if the chiefs have a good season, this thing will pass in a second.

and to boot, to see all the pick up trucks and ford focus's of the jacko blue collar workers parked up front of the lots, and all the hummers and beemers with joco tags in the grass near umb and taco bell, will be priceless.

[WoodDraw]

I've never understood the obsession with the K.  I think it is a very mediocre stadium with a few redeeming qualities that could easily be incorporated into a new stadium.  Baseball is an urban, neighborhood game and the TSC location makes sure that fans with have no interaction and entertainment outside of sitting in a seat.  And I have yet to see one legitimate reason that justifies a $200 million dollar investment in the K.

[Boognish]

Sorry for the double post. 

I've been to Royals stadium, and not to step on toes, but it was nothing special.  I mean, I wish people could see and feel the nostalgia of a SAFECO field, before they get all carried away.  Chiefs (Arrowhead) seems pretty nice, but you could just tell from the parking lot that it needs work.

I agree with your overall point, I suppose, since 99% of us are for new stadiums, but how in the hell is a park that opened on July 15, 1999 supposed to make me feel "nostalgia"? I would like a new park, but you've been sold a line. Seattle wasn't the home of brick baseball and the team (despite recent success and an improved, but still indifferent and uneducated baseball fan base), the Seattle Mariners are one of the least storied franchises in professional sports history. And as Kcdcchef said, they absolutely had to build the new park because not only was Kingdome an absolute disaster even if structurally sound, it was literally falling apart. Add that to the fact that Seattle had awful attendance (despite a bigger, wealthier market) and the Mariners were very straightforward about their intentions to relocate. The K may not be up to date, but it certainly isn't where the Kingdome was.

Either way, don't take me wrong, I'm all for a new park that will provide some urban benefit to our taxpayers and our community before dumping large sums of money into the I-435 lagoon.

(Interestingly, this is one of only two of the new retro baseball parks to have not been built by a Kansas City, MO company.)

[kcdcchef]

boognish, you are wasting your time. 600 out of the 617 people on this board want a downtown stadium while destroying the beautiful, amazing, wonderful, storied, and historied stadium we have. i will post later to get into that, even though i have done so before, i will do it again just to rebuff all this "the k is a nothing"  ( little help here other k fans???)

600 out of 617. and if you do a survey around the area, which, they usually poll 2,000 in those groovy kc star polls, probably 80%, or 1600, would say they prefer to keep kauffman, not out of financial reasons, but out of the feeling the stadium gives them. at least, it was 80 something around the time of bistate II, there was an arcticle in the star with the poll results. and people on here wonder why i say so many forumers are out of touch with the general feelings of jax county residents.

[KCMax]

Everyone I talk to not from KC thinks its insane of us to think about building a new stadium for baseball or football. I like downtown baseball, but there's no need here. We have a great stadium, and we have will soon have a great downtown. We don't need a downtown stadium.

And people from out of town really don't care which side of the state the teams play on either. I would guess most of them find the MO v. KS pissing match pretty petty.

[beautyfromashes]

People in Kansas City always seem to think about the stadiums as an obligation that we have to take care of.  What people don't realize is that building new stadiums will be wise financial decision.  When was the last time the SuperBowl was in KC?  NEVER.  With a retractable roof stadium it would be a lock for us to be on the rotating list for the SB, especially with the weight that Hunt swings.  And let's look at baseball... Do you know what an All-Star game means to a city?  Besides, this would provide thousands of jobs.  To update the stadiums and get none of the high dollar return is a waste. 

[KCMax]

With a retractable roof stadium it would be a lock for us to be on the rotating list for the SB, especially with the weight that Hunt swings.

We'd get it only once. We would not be on a rotating list. The Super Bowl prefers to be in Tampa, NOLA, Miami an San Diego. It only offers it once in a great while to places like Minneapolis, Detroit, Jacksonville and Houston.

Indy has a nice dome, but I don't think a SB has ever been played there.

[kcdcchef]

exactly. you get the all star game every 4 decades either way. kc has waited 32 years since it got the last all star game in mlb, and once the influx of new stadiums gets their all star bids done, ( pnc in 06, then cincy in 07 ) then the royals can start thinking of it. conventional thinking says kansas city may be up for an all star game in 09, or 2010. a 37 year wait is not bad, with 32 teams, and 21 new parks in the past 15 years.

and for the super bowl, a new domed, not retractable, domed, stadium, gets you the bowl. in the frozen tundra of kansas city, the super bowl will not come for a 12F retractable roof. and i personally hate indoor football. who wants that? arrowhead is great, outdoors, cold, fuck that domed crap.

stl, and indy have yet to get a super bowl. and they have domes.

there have been more super bowls played in new orleans, louisiana, then anywhere in the country. and when they fix their situation, they will get bowls again. they were the front runner for 08. and 08 is not awarded, they may still get it.

[jerry12]

Watch the way Arrowhead is maintained this season.  Before every election nationwide the teams quit cleaning the staidium, let minor things remain unfixed and generally present an ugly stadium.  The sports guys beat the drum about how bad things are and suddenly everyone agrees the stadiums are a dump.  At least since the vote is in April the NFL will not have to fix any games like last year.

[phuqueue]

People in Kansas City always seem to think about the stadiums as an obligation that we have to take care of.  What people don't realize is that building new stadiums will be wise financial decision.  When was the last time the SuperBowl was in KC?  NEVER.  With a retractable roof stadium it would be a lock for us to be on the rotating list for the SB, especially with the weight that Hunt swings.  And let's look at baseball... Do you know what an All-Star game means to a city?  Besides, this would provide thousands of jobs.  To update the stadiums and get none of the high dollar return is a waste. 

Football shouldn't be played inside.  The weather outside, particularly when it gets into December and, if we should be so fortunate, January, is a great part of the game.  The Ice Bowl, Vinatieri kicking in the snow a few years back, etc.  Now they talk all the time about how the Colts might beat the Patriots if they can get home field advantage.  So you built a team that can only win big games from the comfort of its climate-controlled dome?  That's a corruption of the game.  And you want to do it because Kansas City might (there is certainly no lock here) get a Super Bowl at some point?  There's no way we'd ever get on the rotating list; there's a number of requirements that you have to meet, and some of them would have to be waived for us to even get one Super Bowl.  There's no denying that getting a Super Bowl, even just one, would help the city out, but if there's only likely to be one and there's nothing guaranteed, I find it hard to care whether or not KC gets a game that I'd never be able to go to myself anyway.  I don't want to watch the Chiefs playing under a roof just for all that.

[AF]

Although I would be in favor of a downtown stadium (i like the north loop site connecting it to the river market), I wont be upset if the K gets renovated. The fountains, the view are as good as any in baseball. If the team wins, the atmosphere will come back. Also, there is no way I would ever want a retractable roof for the chiefs. Football should definately be played outdoors. I think it would be stupid to sacrifice the tradition of Arrowhead for one measly superbowl.

[shinatoo]

(Interestingly, this is one of only two of the new retro baseball parks to have not been built by a Kansas City, MO company.)

Safeco was designed by Heinlein (sic) and Shroc, which merged with CDFM2 to create 360. They are a Kansas City, Mo. firm.