KCRag Forum

Let's say that KC were to build a downtown stadium, but that the favored Washington Square location was out of the question. What would be an ideal alternate location and why? Please provide advantages and disadvantages.

Please limit your location to areas within the MODESA boundaries or in urban riverfront areas along either side of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. (Yes, urban KCK included.)


I'll start.


My alternate ideal location would be the the tract southeast of 19th & Oak. The site does have a few existing businesses so a relocation package would have to be included. The site is level and most of it is currently a surface parking lot. If cleared, the site is large enough to hold a stadium the size of Kauffman. The site is fairly close to Crown Center. It would further spur redevelopment in the East Crossroads and would help tie 18th & Vine closer to the rest of downtown. It is easily accessible from all of the major highways. However the stadium would sit on top of most of the available parking, a garage might need to be build immediately west of the stadium to accomodate suburban traffic.

Here's a photo of the site and an aerial view. Yellow indicates where I'd put the stadium, blue indicates where I'd put the garage. The garage would have ground level entrances as well as 3rd level entrances off both McGee and Oak. Green is Washington Square Park, for reference.









Let's see your ideas!

This was originally Grid's idea but can't find his aerial so I made a quick one.

This proposal would put the stadium starting at Oak & 16th....I'm not sure what is there now actually. This would give a great angle of the skyline and be close to the arena, pac, & entertainment district

I remember that idea and liked it, it's both urban and has great visibility from the highway. As long as the U-Haul is spared, which in your map it is, I think that's a great spot. (U-Haul must be spared because I don't want to have to move all the crap I have stored there! )

the other thing I like about the location is it's little over 1/2 mile walk to the NLBM if they could make the 18th street coridoor more attractive...maybe a cheap/free trolley type thing?

I really like the 19th and Oak spot because it is still close to Crown Center and appears like it wouldn't be that hard to stick a ballpark on the lot. It just concerns me to talk about an East Crossroads location because I believe we need density with the new park. It would surely jumpstart areas of E. Downtown KC, but then we are further isolating from existing attractions (US, Crown, Bartle, P&L Live). It would give us a hand at connecting 18th and Vine.

KCP - How many buildings in that area are empty/not in use, and how many are in use?

What about a stadium in Harlem? Then we could finally build us a nice pedestrian bridge over the missouri. Plenty of crummy stuff to demolish over there. We'll start with that hotel place, thingy.

These locations would wipe out much of the emerging Crossroads east area, where many artists are migrating to as rising property values force them out of the original Crossroads area to the west.

Seth, I would kill for a bike/ped bridge over the river, but putting a ballpark in Harlem would put it far enough away from the action downtown that it would negate many of the benefits of a move.

That is an old aerial KCP, GlobeXplorer is updated (and in color) but they have watermarks on their images (unless you pay)

sethyg wrote:KCP - How many buildings in that area are empty/not in use, and how many are in use?

That I'm not sure of. Like Danger said, many artists are moving to the east side

What do people think about a new stadium in the East Loop area? Just a short walking distance from the Sprint Center and Power + Light.

I believe if KC were to make a new stadium, they need to break from the trend and create something totally unique, like they did in the 70s, far ahead of their time. Baseball stadiums going up all are starting to look alike - brick outside, asymmetry, blah. So, here's my idea:

Have the entire exterior in the shape of a giant crown, which means, yes, the stadium would be ROUND.... And we HAVE to keep the fountain aspect, so here's another idea: Have a giant scoreboard make of small fountains - each little fountain would be like a pixel. I've seen clocks like this before, so I know it's possible.

If this was possible, this would simply blow the other stadiums out of the water - and some might think I'm crazy, like they said they were crazy building a BASEBALL ONLY stadium....

I just read in Hearne's column today that The Bulldog is sitting on top of what would be 3rd base, according to someone who supposedly has some access to long term plans.

Seems like kind of an odd choice, given all of the businesses in that area.

KCLofts wrote:I just read in Hearne's column today that The Bulldog is sitting on top of what would be 3rd base, according to someone who supposedly has some access to long term plans.

Seems like kind of an odd choice, given all of the businesses in that area.

The Star didn't have Hearne today...at least not my copy.

Sorry, his most recent column on Monday - I'm reading it online from San Francisco. Here's the quote:

[quote]Downtown ballpark alert: Color it merely a rumor. But Bulldog Bar & Grill point man Doug Hartmann isn't sure whether to buy a baseball glove or call a real estate agent.

“Unfortunately, this spot here is supposed to be third base for the new downtown baseball stadium,â€

That's gotta be a rumor.

yeah, no way the city/county/whatever would raze viable up and coming neighborhoods for a stadium. put it by the riverfront or East Loop or something.

this shows how out of touch Hearne Christopher Jr. is.

No kidding. I've seen Hearne in Bulldog a couple of times. I think he just frequents the bar and then stumbles over to the Star and types up whatever the bartenders tell him. The man might be a tad to cozy in his job.

How about on top of the N Loop. Would perfectly transition the Market into the CBD. Also, if there is an arena event and ballpark event at the same time, parking and crowds would be better distributed.