Downtown Baseball Stadium

[aknowledgeableperson]

The sooner the city, the county, the state, the team or anyone else involved settles the issue of a new stadium downtown the sooner decisions about the issues GRID mentions can be addressed. It’s not going to be build it and they will come because IMO people will give it just one or two tries and then just forget it. At the same time the team will have to make a serious commitment to increasing payroll and farm system to get a much better team on the field that can at least get 81, hopefully more, wins a season.

[earthling]

Many cities with downtown stadiums tend to have sports and neighborhood bars that run their own shuttles to the game. Helps cut down traffic, reduces parking needs, shuttle charge typically less than parking and no hassles finding parking. Need to encourage KC to get into that mode.

[KCPowercat]

10k+ parking spots in garages easily walkable to east village just in the loop by my quick count. I'm sure more would be built immediately next door to a new stadium too because KC = no where to park for those who aren't down here.
https://www.downtownkc.org/wp-content/u ... ch2022.pdf

18th and vine would require parking structures.

Grid your #1 and #2 point seem to contradict. Do we need parking for the majority of the people since everybody drives or do we need higher capacity transit?

[GRID]

10k+ parking spots in garages easily walkable to east village just in the loop by my quick count. I'm sure more would be built immediately next door to a new stadium too because KC = no where to park for those who aren't down here.
https://www.downtownkc.org/wp-content/u ... ch2022.pdf

18th and vine would require parking structures.

Grid your #1 and #2 point seem to contradict. Do we need parking for the majority of the people since everybody drives or do we need higher capacity transit?

A lot of those garages are west of Main Street. They would be 15-25 minute walk to a stadium in east village when you plug it into google maps. For a decent 20k crowd at Kauffman, they barely fill lots C and G which are an 8 minute walk to the nearest stadium entrance. But many fans have a much closer walk from the lots directly next to Kauffman of under 5 minutes.

Looking at garages in Navy Yard, we have parked just about everywhere, the furthest I have parked looks to be about ten minutes with Metro being about a five minute walk.

I really think people are pushing it asking Kansas Citians to walk that far through downtown. I mean people in KC won't even use the Kauffman Center Garage for events at the arena or bartle hall. That garage is barely used and it's much closer to those venues. Some will park in a further away garage, but I think you are going to need a lot more parking east of Grand or at least east of Main. And because there will be demand, that means a lot of parking lots will either stay or more will come if a stadium goes there. I have a feeling the blocks east of the highway loop would become parking lots for a stadium which would not be good.

The city or Royals would have to build a very large garage somewhere near the stadium. Something like what Minneapolis has near their downtown ballpark. Maybe it could be built on top of the east loop like in Minneapolis. That alone will cost 75 million or more plus any direct ramps to the highways.

And yes you need both parking and transit. They have to co-exist. I don't see KC ever having a reginal transit system like LRT but many could park along the streetcar line and take that to take the pressure off downtown parking. But again, the streetcar line has to be upgraded to more dedicated right of way during events or it will be pretty useless.

And you have to remember, the nearest streetcar stop is still a ten minute walk. So asking somebody from say Lee's Summit to park somewhere on Main St, walk to a streetcar stop, wait for a streetcar, hope the streetcar is not full, take the streetcar downtown (hopefully the streetcar is not stuck in traffic or bunched up in places like the river market), then walk to the stadium. After the game repeat, only there will be 2000-5000 people trying to get on little streetcars all at once.

These are just issues that people really need to think about.

[KCPowercat]

They do it already for T-Mobile events but yeah you are right no way it can happen.

Glad everybody in KC doesn't have this can't do attitude.

Again if everyone is driving as you are saying with this requirement of 10k parking spaces east of Grand, transit is only going to be used by 126 people on a typical game.

[GRID]

They do it already for T-Mobile events but yeah you are right no way it can happen.

Glad everybody in KC doesn't have this can't do attitude.

Not saying it can't happen. I'm saying it can happen, but just throwing a stadium up without doing this other stuff just won't work.

I'm saying a large garage will need to be built to avoid parking lots popping up everywhere east of grand and east of the loop. Again, why not build one right over the top of the depressed part of the east loop? I'm saying that the city would need to find a way to keep as much traffic off the streetcar line inside the loop and river market at least before and after events. The city may even have to build larger platforms so they can use coupled trains during events. I'm saying that the surface streets and highway ramps will need some major upgrades downtown.

All this can happen but it will be expensive. However, I think if you show that you are going to do some of this stuff, you will have a much better chance of people voting yes for a stadium.

The best part of a stadium coming downtown would be how it would force the city to up its infrastructure game. You have to have a plan though. maybe there is one. I don't know. I just think a stadium alone without a lot of improvements will not go over well and does anybody want a downtown stadium to be labeled a failure?

I totally think it can happen. It's just going to cost some money.

[KCPowercat]

Got a strange way of saying you think it can happen

I honestly just don't know if KC is able to offer the full package it will take to have a successful downtown baseball stadium

[Cratedigger]

One of these days I hope to get to Kauffman from my parking spot in 5 minutes! Those lots are huge and brutal in the summer.

Have to imagine large parking garages would be part of the plan. And if not, there’s plenty of surface lots to park at!

[KCPowercat]

This is going between crossroads and 18th and Vine anyways so this eat village discussion is moot.

[GRID]

Got a strange way of saying you think it can happen

I honestly just don't know if KC is able to offer the full package it will take to have a successful downtown baseball stadium

Because it can happen, but KC is not a city that has a track record for spending the big bucks it will take to do it right.

However, I was very impressed by the recent announcement of the park over 670 which I never expected. So maybe things are changing.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

This is going between crossroads and 18th and Vine anyways so this eat village discussion is moot.

I’d hope

[KCPowercat]

I don't disagree with any of your comments overall they are all things to address. Maybe not to the extreme you are claiming has to be done to be "successful" but they are items that need addressed. We have a perfect case study with TMobile already and honestly it's not that big of an impact downtown.

[GRID]

I don't disagree with any of your comments overall they are all things to address. Maybe not to the extreme you are claiming has to be done to be "successful" but they are items that need addressed. We have a perfect case study with TMobile already and honestly it's not that big of an impact downtown.

There is a pretty good chance that Royals games would often happen on the same nights as a concert or something at TMobile. Or you also have day games. And this new stadium will likely draw crowds of 35k plus at least for the first year which is much larger than 15k at Tmobile.

I totally support a downtown ballpark. I just hope the city, county, state and the Royals do it right. That's all. And considering they have nearly ten years to get some of this done, it's not really too much to ask honestly.

[AlkaliAxel]

I truly do find it hilarious when people say "Oh no! what's gonna happen when a Royals game, concert & fist fridays all happen on the same night!" and I'm over here thinking that would be like the greatest night ever in downtown KC.

I hope that dreaded collision of events happens all the time.

[DColeKC]

I truly do find it hilarious when people say "Oh no! what's gonna happen when a Royals game, concert & fist fridays all happen on the same night!" and I'm over here thinking that would be like the greatest night ever in downtown KC.

I hope that dreaded collision of events happens all the time.

Uhhh... Where are these "FIST" Friday's and are they free?!?!?!?!?!?

[DColeKC]

A downtown stadium is a huge undertaking and it makes sense why it will probably be a billion plus project when you add in the required infrastructure needs. Bottom line is the city and ownership won't dump millions into this if people can't easily get to it. Downtown has needed some traffic adjustments for some time, glad this is happening.

[Cratedigger]

KC Star article about the topic. Not too much new info except the claim that the Royals are considering the possibility of a move in time for as early as Opening Day 2026.

Obviously would be amazing if it was really completed before the World Cup. Hard to believe that will happen though

https://amp.kansascity.com/news/politi ... 69067.html

[AlkaliAxel]

Wow just heard the Royals are thinking about a 2026 opening…

2026 or not, I’m very confident they’re gonna be playing downtown in this 20’s decade.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

As you can imagine, the reaction by the general populace (even on Twitter) has been overwhelmingly negative to this article and the idea of a vote. Royals winning games would REALLY help their cause here

[AlkaliAxel]

As you can imagine, the reaction by the general populace (even on Twitter) has been overwhelmingly negative to this article and the idea of a vote. Royals winning games would REALLY help their cause here

My hot take is that winning would make it harder to move. Because when they’re losing people don’t give as much of a shit what they do with the Royals. If they’re winning people care more and get more sentimental with what they’re doing with the Royals.