Downtown Baseball Stadium

[MidWestSider]

One of the most polarizing topics in KC appears to be back??

bizjournals POLL

[chaglang]

The poll should have began: "If you trust the Royals not to go back into the tank and if you trust the city not to screw themselves on the financing..."

I could absolutely see the Royals saying that if they're forced to pay more than some nominal amount for a new stadium, it would mean they would have to cut payroll drastically. And then the city would be on the hook for somewhere around $500m.

[mean]

No, at least not until it is time to renovate again. Unless Glass is paying for it, which, lol.

[shinatoo]

why? we have a like new stdium. Plus stadiums do very little for development. lets get downtown built. That said, west bottoms would be a great place for the stadium.

[bobbyhawks]

I would start building today if there were a plan in place. Kauffman is a nice stadium, but most of the recent upgrades were designed for little kids who do not care about baseball. Other than a few late season tailgates, there is absolutely no reason to have the stadium exist inside a massive suckhole of parking. I could care less if it is more convenient for someone who lives in South OP. They chose to live there because they are fine driving 45 minutes to get almost anywhere. In my opinion, a downtown stadium with a team that plays 81 games a year would be a gigantic puzzle piece inserted into an area trying to differentiate itself from a Sprint campus or a Corporate Woods. Getaway games downtown would really elevate the entire city in my eyes. I can only imagine the number of younger people who would be interested in living near the baseball stadium downtown.

[DaveKCMO]

put the stadium INSIDE a new airport terminal connected to downtown only via trolleys. BOOM!

[KCMax]

put the stadium INSIDE a new airport terminal connected to downtown only via trolleys. BOOM!

Heh.

Yea, I can't see any appetite for this any time soon. Also, people were raving about how great the K looked on TV and in person for the World Series. Its becoming one of the oldest stadiums in the league and still looks good. Before you know it, people will be citing "historic preservation" status for it.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Before you know it, people will be citing "historic preservation" status for it.

Let's see. Some want to basically do away with Royals Stadium but want to save Kemper. Kinda confusing.

[bobbyhawks]

Before you know it, people will be citing "historic preservation" status for it.

Let's see. Some want to basically do away with Royals Stadium but want to save Kemper. Kinda confusing.

1. Kemper is already downtown (yes, I consider the WB to be downtown).
2. All of the Kemper plans currently call for building/renovations in the same location.
3. I bet most of the dowtown baseball stadium supporters (like me) would not support a demo of Kauffman if the two options were to rebuild in the same location or to renovate.

In that sense, there is no difference. I would not support a demo of Kauffman so that the Glass family could rebuild (with taxpayer funding) even more of a non-connected circus. The basic interior of Kauffman is beautiful, but I do find incredible fault in its detachment from the city. That, to me, is one of the best things about the best stadiums in baseball.

I feel like people generally enjoy the location of Kemper but aren't enthusiastic about a plan put together by millionaires who want to (seemingly) ride roughshod over everyone else. We (the city) actually own Kemper.

[flyingember]

Your mind will be blown with this idea

Build a stadium and cap the loop at the same time. No, not 670, the north side

7th to Indep, Delaware to Wyandotte

Then you build the parking next to it, also over i70.

[WinchesterMysteryHouse]

Living near stadium-level amounts of traffic would be a real shit-on.

[bobbyhawks]

Your mind will be blown with this idea

Build a stadium and cap the loop at the same time. No, not 670, the north side

7th to Indep, Delaware to Wyandotte

Then you build the parking next to it, also over i70.

If you want a natural view of the dowtown skyline for a traditionally designed dowtown stadium, I think the stadium needs to be South of the loop or West of the loop. Stadiums tend to face Northeast (home to center field) due to the way the sun moves in North America. The furthest East you could go would be around Broadway or Wyandotte if you wanted to sneak the Bartle towers into the view (totally guessing, though). The perspective up from the West Bottoms would be pretty awesome, but I know there are some downsides to putting a new stadium there. I'd be much more willing to listen to a plan to raze Kemper if it involved a new baseball stadium.

[pash]

.

[Eon Blue]

Your mind will be blown with this idea

Build a stadium and cap the loop at the same time. No, not 670, the north side

7th to Indep, Delaware to Wyandotte

Then you build the parking next to it, also over i70.

Just nuke the north loop and build part of the stadium in its footprint.

[Eon Blue]

Living near stadium-level amounts of traffic would be a real shit-on.

Eh.

Lots of people would already be downtown for work. Many more could take transit instead of driving. Those driving in for the game would be going against rush-hour traffic. It's not carmageddon in St. Louis by any means; in my experience it's more frustrating to drive to/from a sellout game at the K than a sellout at Busch. Savvy fans will park a few blocks farther from the stadium for a cheaper price and a quicker escape - something that is impossible with the TSC.

[shinatoo]

Living near stadium-level amounts of traffic would be a real shit-on.

Eh.

Lots of people would already be downtown for work. Many more could take transit instead of driving. Those driving in for the game would be going against rush-hour traffic. It's not carmageddon in St. Louis by any means; in my experience it's more frustrating to drive to/from a sellout game at the K than a sellout at Busch. Savvy fans will park a few blocks farther from the stadium for a cheaper price and a quicker escape - something that is impossible with the TSC.

Now you know why the Glasses don't want a downtown stadium.

[Eon Blue]

Now you know why the Glasses don't want a downtown stadium.

Yep, nice little implicit subsidy they have there.

[KCMax]

Why is this a topic right now?

Surprising poll results for building new Royals downtown stadium

[bobbyhawks]

Why is this a topic right now?

Surprising poll results for building new Royals downtown stadium

That is a terribly worded question designed to elicit a specific response. I wouldn't be shocked at all if the Glass family was behind the article. Had they asked something like "Would you prefer that Kansas City have a dowtnown baseball stadium?" I think you would get a different response.

I could take almost anything popular and make it unpopular by placing "Should the taxpayers fund..." before it, without any context or details or designs or discussion. What if new ownership was willing to pay $400 million of a $600 million stadium? What if the plan included a brand new convention space, thousands of apartments, and an urban target with a grocery store? People generally default to "no" when they don't understand any of the details on something that requires an increase in taxes.

[WSPanic]

I would start building today if there were a plan in place. Kauffman is a nice stadium, but most of the recent upgrades were designed for little kids who do not care about baseball. Other than a few late season tailgates, there is absolutely no reason to have the stadium exist inside a massive suckhole of parking. I could care less if it is more convenient for someone who lives in South OP. They chose to live there because they are fine driving 45 minutes to get almost anywhere. In my opinion, a downtown stadium with a team that plays 81 games a year would be a gigantic puzzle piece inserted into an area trying to differentiate itself from a Sprint campus or a Corporate Woods. Getaway games downtown would really elevate the entire city in my eyes. I can only imagine the number of younger people who would be interested in living near the baseball stadium downtown.

Yeah, they added the Little K and the Carousel, but most of the renovations were adding seating to the outfield, adding concessions and widening of all the concourses. It's not like they put an amusement park or a mall in the outfield.