KCRag Forum

StL_Dan wrote: ↑Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:05 pm This is exactly where I have always envisioned a downtown stadium in KC being built. Not sure why there are high rises directly north of the stadium in your rendering cutting off the view of downtown, but, otherwise it's exactly as I've envisioned it since working near Wash Park back in the late 90's/early 2000's.

normalthings wrote:2005 Royals Washington Park Site Overview


My 2018 Updated Renderings

View from West/Southwest

View from the bottom of the memorial

Union Hill Aerial

Northeast Aerial

Link to all images
https://imgur.com/a/ZQJR3w4

Please let me know what you think of this. Suggestions are welcomed. I could make something like this for the Northloop as well.

The stadium itself is very similar to Wrigley in Chicago. A lack of horizontal space is combatted by moving support areas and such(kitchens, dinning rooms, etc) below grade. The site has a lot of below grade space that can be utilized for such purposes.

I removed the game day plaza to allow for more seating and hotels/apartments/office spaces and associated spaces. Every potential revenue producing space must be capitalized on inorder to make the financing for this project work.

Why this site?:
1. The land is already owned by KCMO and Union Station.
2. No highway removal is required to get this going, unlike the northloop site.
3.The parcels included in my plan are hard to activate, unlike the North loop which would already have been built on by now.
5. I believe a Northloop stadium would turn into a sprawling suburban site in a prime downtown location. The limitations of the Washington Park site make sure the stadium and associated structures do not sprawl.

Worries: Traffic is definitely a concern at this site. Main should be closed to cars on game day to 1. preserve streetcar performance and 2. serve as a sort of pedestrian zone. This plan relies on a streetcar expansion, bussing, and hopefully LR to make the car problem manageable.

WoodDraw wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:16 pm My big worry about building the stadium downtown is how much parking they're going to want, and how much surface parking they'll want.

I would have loved a downtown stadium before, but I think that was the chance. We're doing just fine without it. If it does come downtown, I want it to be on our terms, not theirs.

ToDactivist wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:01 pm why either or? Denver did all and look where it went. Airport, People Mover then Light Rail, Downtown stadiums - all three. thats a commitment to an vibrant urban lifestyle.

smh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:51 pm I'm all for downtown-ish baseball, but I'd prefer not have it a block from my house.

flyingember wrote: ↑Thu Sep 06, 2018 1:08 pm

smh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:51 pm I'm all for downtown-ish baseball, but I'd prefer not have it a block from my house.

NIMBY!

smh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:50 pm

flyingember wrote: ↑Thu Sep 06, 2018 1:08 pm

smh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:51 pm I'm all for downtown-ish baseball, but I'd prefer not have it a block from my house.

NIMBY!

Sigh. In this case I must admit it.

I feel like the negative externalities of 20,000 people a block away 82 days a year would just be a little much.

"But Wrigleyville!" Yeah, I dunno.

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:56 pm Also, Wrigley isn't exactly in the middle of downtown

WoodDraw wrote: ↑Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:06 pm Oh come on, it's fine as a neighborhood and serves a purpose for people there. I have no problem with a drunk, young, sports neighborhood. I just have no faith that KC will pull it off.

I see a stadium surrounded by parking lots and garages. Also, Kansas City isn't Chicago. Putting a stadium in the middle of downtown is a bigger deal.

ToDactivist wrote: ↑Sat Sep 08, 2018 12:56 pm

WoodDraw wrote: ↑Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:06 pm Oh come on, it's fine as a neighborhood and serves a purpose for people there. I have no problem with a drunk, young, sports neighborhood. I just have no faith that KC will pull it off.

I see a stadium surrounded by parking lots and garages. Also, Kansas City isn't Chicago. Putting a stadium in the middle of downtown is a bigger deal.

nooth loop stop is already replete with underused parking garages - commerce - catholics - denizen - library - ymca - others plus (sub)surface parking under I-70 lid when this happens at same time. no new parking needed is concept plus that streetcar thingy....

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Sat Aug 18, 2018 12:53 am

This is probably the most detailed depiction of this scheme I've come across. Notice that they have to intrude upon freeway space here, even after demolishing both the flashcube and 609 central. Assuming the flashcube is kept, the only way this plan could even be plausible would be if the north loop was removed and the stadium was partially sat on the land. If that occurred, though, it would negate a benefit of having the thing in that location in the first place, that being freeway access. It would still require 609's demolition. I'm sorry, but I'd hate seeing a last remnant of an otherwise obliterated neighborhood be demolished for schlock like this.



I still have yet to fathom why this particular site is so attractive to people here. The grid is already so thoroughly wrecked around there; why do we need to plop a huge superblock in there (which would also need an huge amount of adjacent parking, mind you) when we have an opportunity to right such a major wrong? Wouldn't it just be rewarding the people who have been landbanking this area for so long, who've kept it a dormant division between two of downtown's most critical neighborhoods for the last half century? It's insane.

Even if it takes the better part of a century to see this area develop into a neighborhood, I'd still say it's worth avoiding having a stadium jammed into it.

normalthings wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:22 pm Project Price is now over $800million. Opportunity zones are being looked at due to potential financial bonuses. The East Loop and West Bottoms areas are both opportunity zones. West Bottoms sounds like the better option to me. Opinions?

normalthings wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:22 pm Project Price is now over $800million. Opportunity zones are being looked at due to potential financial bonuses. The East Loop and West Bottoms areas are both opportunity zones. West Bottoms sounds like the better option to me. Opinions?