OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) – As a Dec. 31 deadline nears for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to seize on STAR bond incentives offered by the state of Kansas, Johnson County residents are organizing to say no to one possible ballpark location.
Hundreds of Johnson County residents packed a meeting room Monday night in Leawood to get on message and get that message out. More than 250 people attended the meeting to voice concerns about a potential stadium at 119th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park.
The site on the Aspiria campus, originally the Sprint headquarters, sits just across from the Town Center Plaza shopping center. Though the immediate area is largely commercial, numerous subdivisions are located just a few blocks away.
Mark Kelly, who heads the Hawthorne Place Homes Association, lives less than a mile away at 123rd Street and Nall Avenue.
“It’s so close and so big and it’ll be so noisy,” Kelly said.
Residents worry about the impact of 81 home games each season on their neighborhoods. Some games conclude with fireworks. They think about cars cramming the roads not far from homes, schools and hospitals.
“I know people love to go to the ballpark and have a good time, but then, you know, you have a few beers, and traffic concerns mount as you’re coming out,” Kelly said.
He and Marsha Friedman, an opposition organizer, cited safety concerns related to the site’s proximity to an elementary school and Blue Valley North High School, which is barely over a mile away.
“You’ve got people who are going to be drinking and driving. You’ve got the most vulnerable kids who are going to be driving, the 16-year-olds who just got their license. It’s not a smart move,” Friedman said.
Residents also worry about congestion and potential bottlenecks that could interfere with emergency traffic to Menorah Medical Center, located directly across the street from the proposed site.
Friedman said the location lacks the highway access available at other sports venues.
“It’s not like you have with the Truman Sports Center. You get on a highway; you get off a highway and you’re there,” Friedman said.
The nearest highway access would involve driving 1.5 miles down Nall from Interstate 435 or 3 miles across 119th Street from U.S. Highway 69. If those routes become backed up, Friedman suspects traffic would spill into residential areas.
“You’re going to be backed up on the highway, bumper to bumper. They’re going to get off on State Line. They’ll go through the Hallbrook neighborhood,” she said.
Kelly questioned whether existing infrastructure could handle the increased traffic and who would pay for necessary improvements.
“I don’t think the streets that we have currently are designed to handle the traffic. I’m concerned that when we have to do the street improvements, that because of the tax breaks the Royals are getting, it’s going to fall on the backs of the taxpayers,” Kelly said.
Kelly encouraged the hundreds of homeowners in attendance to make their voices heard to elected officials.
“Just make noise. We’re just going to try to let the elected officials in our area and in Topeka know that this is not something that we would welcome, that we have a thriving community right now, and we don’t think that a stadium would have a positive impact,” Kelly said.
Organizers distributed flyers containing email addresses of decision makers in state, county and city government.
HOW WE GOT HERE
The Royals are considering multiple locations as their lease at Kauffman Stadium expires in 2031. Options include North Kansas City, Washington Square Park in downtown Kansas City, and the 119th and Nall site in Overland Park.
The Overland Park location gained attention in May when a Royals affiliate purchased the mortgage on the Aspiria Campus. The club said the purchase was part of evaluating multiple options in both Missouri and Kansas.
In July, Kansas lawmakers extended STAR bond legislation through June 30, 2026, following requests from both the Chiefs and Royals. The bonds allow Kansas to pay for up to 70% of a stadium project. Lawmakers set a Dec. 31, 2025, deadline for teams to submit proposals to the state Commerce Department.
The Royals have been actively seeking fan input on potential locations. In November, the organization hired Cullen Maxey as President of Business Operations and moved Brooks Sherman to President of Real Estate and Development, signaling serious commitment to finding a new home.
The stadium search intensified after Jackson County voters rejected a proposal in April to extend a sales tax that would have funded a new ballpark in Kansas City’s Crossroads district.
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