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Missouri should make area around Chiefs, Royals stadiums ‘a better place,’ some fans say

An aerial view of Truman Sports Complex Star file photo along@kcstar.com

A late-hour effort from Missouri lawmakers to keep the Kansas Chiefs and Royals in Missouri is marking yet another chapter in the sports stadium saga for local fans, torn between tradition and transformation for their favorite sports franchises.

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Missouri House approved a stadium-funding bill, which is now in the hands of the Senate, where it has already run into roadblocks on the path to approval before the end of the legislative session this week.

The potential total value of the package is worth more than $3 billion, according to Gov. Mike Kehoe.

Jackson County voters made their voices heard on the matter last April by rejecting a 3/8th-cent stadium sales tax, with voters citing a rushed, incomplete plan without a definite location as the reason why it was rejected.

But with Kansas lawmakers offering their own plans for stadium funding packages, the bidding war for the sports franchises has continued between the two states.

Sports fans, meanwhile, have been weighing in with their reactions both for and against the move. In North Kansas City, one proposed site, some fans believe the stadiums are good where they are, but need surrounding businesses and community to support the longstanding stadiums. Others think North Kansas City is primed and ready to become a new sports team home.

Memories of Truman Sports Complex

Many lifelong Chiefs and Royals fans, like Harri Hewitt, want the teams to stay at Truman Sports Complex. Hewitt highlighted parking, tailgating, and the convenience of having both Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums next to each other as reasons why they would prefer the teams to stay put.

“They’ve hosted charity runs, countless cookouts, tailgates, family gatherings that just so happen to be over the game of baseball and football,” Hewitt said.

Emily Robbins also has vast memories at Truman Sports Complex. Robbins and her friends frequently attended games as children in the 1990s.

Robbins and one of her friends, Erin Danks, believe the teams failed to get the votes they needed last April because of the potential locations of the Royals’ stadium then on the table: downtown or in the Crossroads. Those locations lacked the infrastructure and parking to host any kind of stadium, they said.

They believe any money should be spent on upgrading the area around the current sports complex to build a community.

“If you take no responsibility for not building community support around those stadiums, why should the taxpayers give you the authority to destroy community again in downtown?” Danks asked.

Hewitt shared similar views.

“Maybe we instead use some of that money [for] some of the facilities and whatnot around there, in Independence, and make that a better place,” he said.

But Robbins said if the change does happen, she believes picking the right location is of paramount importance.

Robbins said she would be in favor of a Royals move to North Kansas City because she believes it has a community prepared for a ballpark. North Kansas City and Clay County officials have been among the communities hoping to lure the baseball team during the stadium sweepstakes as well.

“I love that idea,” Robbins said. “Because it’s got all of this already built up.”

Robbins noted that downtown North Kansas City’s strip of businesses on Armour Road is a perfect fit as the outskirts of a sports stadium.

Danks is unattached to any particular location for the sports teams. He just hopes the community is part of any decisions made moving forward.

“I don’t think they should be rewarded for failing to build community by destroying another one,” Danks said. “So if they’re not destroying community, then they can go anywhere.”

The Missouri Senate will be pushed by the clock to pass the bill since the legislative session ends at 6 p.m. Friday. Kehoe has teased that he could call a special session if the bill isn’t passed.

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