KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman provided hope for the Royals stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday.
“This process, it’s really about making sure that we fulfill Ewing Kauffman’s promise that the Royals are Kansas City’s forever,” he said.
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After the team withdrew its interest in the Aspiria Campus in Overland Park and missed the deadline to put a sales tax on Clay County’s April ballot, Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota is more confident than ever that the team will stay.
“We are confident that Jackson County is the best place and that’s where they’re going to land,” LeVota said.
“So to see them narrow it down and move off Kansas, was something we definitely thought was going to happen.”
However, LeVota says they’re not just fixated on a stadium at Washington Square Park. The park near Union Station and Crown Center has been considered a possible stadium site for months.
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“Everything’s still in the mix in Jackson County, for sure,” he said.
“We’re narrowing it down, not in Overland Park, not in Kansas anymore, and not in Clay County.”
Fans I spoke to on Sunday were concerned about the congestion in the area if the stadium is built at Washington Square Park.
“Not a big fan of the traffic, the parking,” said Mark Burnaugh.
“Maybe we won’t get as much tailgating, potentially crime. I don’t know. I’m more afraid of losing them out of Kansas City, Missouri.”
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“I had lived downtown for like five years and even just like a new apartment complex, like there’s no parking,” said Madi Stancic.
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“The streetcar is already full when there’s one concert, it’s just it’s going to be bad.”
LeVota says that improved communication has helped their pitch to land the team. “Back in the past, the city hall and the courthouse were not talking,” he said.
“And that was a problem. That was a problem with the Chiefs and a problem with the Royals on the dysfunction between government. And now, city hall and the courthouse are talking every day. And that makes a big difference.”
He says a potential funding package would include finances from both the city and county.
“So, we’ll all have to be partners and they’ll be asking for a certain amount of money to create this new complex, for lack of a better word. It’s not just going to be a stadium, it’s going to be a complex.”
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Now, LeVota says the team is doing its due diligence in Jackson County.
“Now we’re just narrowing down all of the different noise and all the different opportunities that people speculate. The Royals aren’t speculating anything. They’re doing their due diligence, and I respect them for doing that and they’re doing what’s best for their team.”
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