Downtown Baseball Stadium

[GRID]

The only more pretentious name for a neighborhood than the Crossroads Arts District is the Crossroads East. I hope the new Royals ballpark will redesignate downtown as everywhere between the river and 31st street.

This. That stupid freeway being covered should help people understand that Downtown doesn't stop at Truman. I find it bizarre to call the area around the star press the "crossroads" as if if it's the same cohesive neighborhood as 21st and Central (which should be known as the freight house district.) The idea that this location is going to kill the "crossroads" is ridiculous. This is on the edge of that district and it will enhance it and replace what is currently mostly lightly used land and industrial uses with a major destination.

Downtown KC goes to Crown Center at least and has several smaller districts with it. Hopefully the new area with the stadiums will get new name or something, but it's not crossroads or really even P&L.

Just cap that atrocious highway. East loop still will need work even if not in the east village. Imagine northland traffic exiting onto 670 merging across all lanes on to one flyover. We don’t need more lanes, just better exits and reduce choke points.

Yep. There are so many lanes coming from every direction and tons of lightly used surface streets. I do think more lanes are needed on the east loop, to make the interstates flow better, but for the most part, all that really needs to be done is a reduction of exits to force most traffic going downtown into a few major streets. Paseo, Truman, Broadway, Indep Ave etc.

Looking to seeing final design renderings. Really need to have crown scoreboard & fountains in the OF some sort. There are very few architecturally distinct features in MLB stadiums. The Royals are lucky to have 2 iconic ones that immediately say The K & KC. You wouldn’t remove the ivy at Wrigley Field, you wouldn’t replace the scoreboard on the Green Monster with a video one. So let’s not mess with out icons to baseball parks and make sure those 2 things are in the new park

Agreed. I enjoy Nats stadium, but it's so damn generic and that scoreboard in those renderings reminds me of the Nats stadium scoreboard. I really don't get why they are not doing more to incorporate more "Kansas City" or more of Kauffman Stadium into the new stadium. Especially since people have bee screaming for that with the previous renderings. Maybe they are saving it for the final design to show they are listening to the fans? But I doubt we see any new renderings before the vote.

[im2kull]

Lol go find the spaceship. You missed the early years. That's where we are now

Someone must have the original rendering of Sprint center? I'm avoiding saying who we went against to not draw this off.

I have all the original renderings and concepts. I was here for the early days. The spaceship was one design presented before a final design was chosen. Today’s announcement and renderings are not one of a few designs being considered. It is the core design.

Same. Even though we have an extremely solid arena, I'm still salty that we passed up the opportunity for a Frank Gehry masterpiece.

As for this stadium proposal.. HOW is it possible that nobody on here has noticed the OBVIOUS role of the pedestrian bridge over TRUMAN AVE (It's still there guys..). Y'all whining about it but haven't even taken a look at where it goes and what it does...

Obviously its role is to allow quick, convenient, safe, MASS transit across Truman Ave without the bottlenecks of crosswalks for a large number of people who are parking in the 10,000+ spots in the huge public garages directly at the outlet of the bridge (Town Pavilion, P&L, 1/2/3 Light.. which have public use agreements in place as part of the city provided financing), and 2. To allow all of the same for folks heading back home in the CBD, heading to P&L, etc.

I don't know why nobody has seemed to realize those obvious uses. They're right there. Staring back at you from the renderings.

[ericwyner]

Why would they be presenting this stadium if they haven’t figured out how to pay for it? 300 to 350 million will be generated from the tax extension.

As for Sprint Center renderings and what we ended up with. They dropped a few fountains along Grand and that’s about it. We ended up with one of the best arenas in the country and it’s held up very well.

still no NBA team and it's in the middle age of sports arenas

[ericwyner]

Just cap that atrocious highway. East loop still will need work even if not in the east village. Imagine northland traffic exiting onto 670 merging across all lanes on to one flyover. We don’t need more lanes, just better exits and reduce choke points.

can't they tear down the AT&T building or reskin it?

[WoodDraw]

My understanding is that att building has a lot going on around and underneath it that doesn't make a change easy

[WoodDraw]

Ftr, as of now I'm planning to vote yes on the tax.

I'm sorry if I'm sounding negative. Grid must be happy I'm taking over the abuse.

I agree with what Chris said. The only thing I'll add is fight now because you won't get a second chance.

We need to fight for a better outcome, not just here but across the entire City. This can and should be the spark to get people to do that. We can complain all day, or we can find common ground and advance a cause. My door is open for discussion and I hope enough people are willing to see both sides of this argument to come to a positive conclusion.

Just to follow up on this, I mean it. There are lots of people downtown I love that I've disagreed with and fought against and afterwards we go have a beer.

Stand up for what you think should happen. Like grid said, none of us are angry at anyone. I respect everyone disagreeing with me.

[DColeKC]

Why would they be presenting this stadium if they haven’t figured out how to pay for it? 300 to 350 million will be generated from the tax extension.

As for Sprint Center renderings and what we ended up with. They dropped a few fountains along Grand and that’s about it. We ended up with one of the best arenas in the country and it’s held up very well.

still no NBA team and it's in the middle age of sports arenas

No one can control not having a sports anchor. This city has been trying for years but you’re at the mercy of others to get one to come here.

Thankfully they did this arena the right way and along with upgrades it stands right up there with the best today.

A baseball stadium is such a different beast.

[wahoowa]

that enormous park cap extension is the only thing i like about this and i will assume that part of it is vaporware until i physically see it. but if they think it's really happening then the park cap really shouldn't close walnut to street traffic. no north/south from main to locust is going to be terrible for streetcar ops, among other things.

alternatively, let's shut main down to car traffic moving more than a block to access a garage. or reroute the whole streetcar line to grand. i know we're not doing either of those things. so at least leave one permanent traffic release valve between main and locust.

where is that "missing downtown amenities" thread? going to be a real kick in the nuts to lose the only downtown dry cleaner i know of.

edit: found that thread and double posted accordingly. more than a year stale! must be making progress!!

[wahoowa]

This attitude is going to make me fight the tax. I'd rather the royals move to Nashville than close oak.

Are you a Jackson County resident?

I'm literally on those blocks every day. I'm not giving out any personal info.

can confirm, met this guy at the bar at charisse some years ago. have also seen what i assume is stritzel's drone in action a few times. think that's my complete list of rag interactions

[Chris Stritzel]

Are you a Jackson County resident?

I'm literally on those blocks every day. I'm not giving out any personal info.

can confirm, met this guy at the bar at charisse some years ago. have also seen what i assume is stritzel's drone in action a few times. think that's my complete list of rag interactions

Surprisingly, I haven’t taken my drone up on this side of downtown with the exception of when 1531 Holmes was first discussed. So it’s not my little drone, but maybe it will be soon! Probably would be worth taking it up for the most up-to-date context photos. My drone is elusive and shows up when people least expect it (or is on a mission of getting marketing images for some brokers in town).

[TheUrbanRoo]

When completed, it will be the most urban dense feeling stadium in the country outside of Wrigley.

[Chris Stritzel]

When completed, it will be the most urban dense feeling stadium in the country outside of Wrigley.

I’ve been by Fenway Park. I’d say that’s up there with Wrigley Field. Petco Park isn’t that bad either. Minneapolis might also want a word with that.

[Critical_Mass]

And Detroit, and Cleveland, and Baltimore, and Toronto, and Pittsburgh, and New York (AL), and Seattle, and...

After the White Sox proposal a couple days ago, the Royals would be the only AL Central team without a downtown stadium

[rxlexi]

Some thoughts after digesting this for a bit:

TL:DR - Pro - love the location, super urban, no parking (!?) Con - zero concrete info, renderings laughably remain a "Vision", feels like potential bait n switch

Superior location to EV for sure, IF built as-shown day 1 (cap park included) will instantly become one of the most vibrant MLB experiences. I like the streetcar access, the walkability, and the number of routes in/out of the surrounding areas for a stadium that is weaved into the edge of the Crossroads.

Surprised field doesn't face north and instead looks out directly into longlines. Was expecting north facing field with high-rise in right field as part of actual stadium (Royals offices or hotel), per DCole's home brewed renderings.

Design of the actual stadium could still use improvement - surprised there isn't more Kauffman DNA, a la East Village proposal. Needs Crown scoreboard bad, needs explanation of fountain feature(s). Feels a little generic maybe.

The gold metal roof/light structure is an awesome feature, looks like similar material used on current Crown Vision, and would look amazing paired with a gold crown scoreboard. Signature combo.

Like what appears to be a "notch" in left field wall looking directly out towards Kauffman Center and preserving that view from the interior.

Like the potential of the pedestrian bridge to enable mass/entrance/exit from the outfield and simultaneously heavily encourage the use of existing garages in/around P&L. Also to encourage P&L biz, no doubt. Could also become a signature feature and park bookend/photo op if done right (not a lot of faith here unfortunately).

Closing Oak is not ideal, but if necessary for Day 1 completion of at minimum Royals offices, hotel, small retail tied directly into stadium, I accept it. Assumed it would be closed as soon they mentioned this site. Need to reconsider the Grand closures and finely tune traffic management around the new freeway park.

Main negative is per prior posts here - as shown, this is all vaporware until proven otherwise. I mean, look at the ridiculous giant fountain on the freeway cap - will never happen, why even include such features? Maybe the barebones basic stadium is core locked-in design, but there's no joy in that, it's not that special and absolutely requires the ancillary features IMO. Or a more impressive standalone stadium design. Really thought we would be getting substantially complete renderings/plans requiring maybe a few finishing touches, yet park cap is totally unfinanced, same with bridge, same with village buildings that IMO need to be up Day 1 to complete the vibe.

Frustrated by the lack of details and hope to be pleasantly surprised going forward. Add Crown Vision and build this thing as-is (inclusive of park and development), would be absolutely amazing for the city. A game changer for downtown for sure.

[TheUrbanRoo]

And Detroit, and Cleveland, and Baltimore, and Toronto, and Pittsburgh, and New York (AL), and Seattle, and...

After the White Sox proposal a couple days ago, the Royals would be the only AL Central team without a downtown stadium

Are you kidding? Have you ever actually looked at those stadiums or just head they’re “downtown”?

All of those stadiums are surrounded by either a highway or some massive railroad tracks. Or in Detroits case just straight up surface lots.

[TheUrbanRoo]

When completed, it will be the most urban dense feeling stadium in the country outside of Wrigley.

I’ve been by Fenway Park. I’d say that’s up there with Wrigley Field. Petco Park isn’t that bad either. Minneapolis might also want a word with that.

I’ll grant you Fenway.

Petco behind home plate is just some tracks and some emptiness.

Minneapolis is bordered way too much with the highway. KC’s won’t be if they’re covering it.

[TheUrbanRoo]

How many stadiums in the league can you just walk around the entire exterior and not encounter a highway or some railroad tracks? Like 2?

This will join that list. That’s why I’m excited for this one. Pure density and walkability that’s very rare for these stadiums.

[mistervinix]

Maybe others have posted this already, but having that godawful AT&T building in the background is really going to suck. I know there are some kind of rules about MLB stadium orientations, but still.

[wahoowa]

i'm gonna zag here. they'll probably stick a huge poster on the att building like they do at the mainmark. i'm picturing the biggest jungle law ad known to man. i am 100% down for that.

[rxlexi]

What a great week in KC. Watching the Super Bowl parade roll past the future Royals stadium site, getting pumped.