Bowing to KC mayor’s wishes, Royals change ballpark design to keep Oak Street open
The Royals have agreed to a design change that would keep Oak Street open, if a new ballpark is built in the East Crossroads area near downtown Kansas City.
Team majority owner John Sherman made the announcement Wednesday morning, following a meeting the previous day with Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was adamant that a two-block section of the major artery not be vacated for the stadium project.
“I want to thank Mayor Quinton Lucas for his leadership and tireless advocacy as we work to make the best possible ballpark district in downtown Kansas City,” Sherman said in a news release. “We have been listening to members of the Crossroads community and had thoughtful conversations with the Mayor and City Council to improve the ballpark district impact.
“Through these conversations we have come to realize the importance of keeping Oak Street open. We acknowledge Oak Street is an integral part of the downtown experience, and therefore we agree to change the ballpark district design to keep Oak Street open. We look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council to begin this joint effort.”
The concession comes six days before ballots are counted in Tuesday’s stadiums sales tax election.
After a site selection process that took more than a year, the Royals announced on Feb. 13 the team’s desire to relocate from Kauffman Stadium to the East Crossroads. Their intention was to acquire all of the properties in a six block area for the ballpark and additional commercial development – from Grand Boulevard to Locust Street, Truman Road to 17th Street.
Plans had the ballpark being built on the four westernmost blocks and sprawling onto Oak Street, which the Royals said would be closed to traffic at the northern and southern boundaries of the development. Drawings showed the team headquarters located where Oak and eastbound Truman Road intersect.
As The Star reported on Tuesday, Lucas opposed the plan to close Oak and questioned the team’s plans for developing the two blocks east of Oak, which would displace many small businesses.
“I do not believe that in any way the redevelopment footprint should or needs to extend over Oak Street in Kansas City,” Lucas said on a Facebook Live conversation with constituents on Sunday night. “I don’t think that that needs to be part of this project. And you don’t need those parcels…to actually have a successful baseball stadium.”
Lucas’ opinion matters because closing the street would require city approval.
The Royals did not explain how their design concept would change to allow Oak to remain open. The team response did not address Lucas’ concerns about development east of Oak.
But as of Tuesday evening in a meeting with potential voters, Sherman was still committed to building some kind of commercial district around the ballpark.
“You know, I think the mayor was asking, saying something the other day about why create an entertainment district when there’s one across the street,” he said. “We’re not creating an entertainment district there. We may have some residential, some other things in that district – the entertainment, there’s going to be natural entertainment around the ballpark.
“To me that will be organic, right? The brewery south of the ballpark, we’re going to bring a lot of foot traffic and a lot of things that will help their business. So I think that part of it will all happen organically around the ballpark.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the Royals and Chiefs were scheduled to sign and announce the terms of new stadium leases contingent on the passage of the ballot issue that would repeal the current stadiums 3/8th-cent sales tax and replacing it with a new 3/8th-cent tax that would last 40 years and help pay for a new Royals ballpark and renovations at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this article.
This story was originally published March 27, 2024 at 10:55 AM.
