East Side KC leaders prepare to say farewell to Arrowhead: ‘Too great of a loss’
The Kansas City Chiefs’ announced departure from Arrowhead Stadium in 2031 has reverberated throughout the Kansas City metro, as residents of the East Side wonder what will become of the football sanctuary in six years.
The stadium has served as the home of the NFL team since 1973, located conveniently off of Interstate 435 and Interstate 70 in the eastern part of the city’s 3rd district, bordering nearby cities Independence and Raytown.
The team’s move to build brand-new facilities in Wyandotte County and Olathe, along with the Kansas City Royals’ expected departure from Kauffman Stadium, will leave the Truman Sports Complex with two empty stadiums.
In anticipation of the nearly $4 billion move, Kansas City council members are organizing to make sure businesses and neighborhoods in the 3rd district are prepared for the departure.
“My immediate focus is ensuring that the voices of residents, neighborhoods, and local businesses remain front and center in this conversation,” Councilwoman Melissa Patterson Hazley said in a news release. “Decisions of this magnitude cannot happen in isolation, and the people most connected to this area deserve to be heard and considered every step of the way.”
Patterson Hazley said she has started meeting with Independence leaders and Jackson County legislators “to understand potential impacts and identify pathways forward that protect our community’s interests,” she said. “I want to ensure that the Truman Sports Complex remains an asset for Kansas City.“
East Side neighborhood leaders in the 3rd district were proud of having Arrowhead Stadium in their district, one of the crown jewels of an area too often known for violence and blight. While leaders are sad to see the stadium leave, they say they expected the move throughout the years of the football franchise negotiating with Missouri and Kansas.
“I‘m sure a lot of them don’t even realize 3rd district goes out that far,” said Marquita Taylor, president of the Santa Fe Neighborhood Association. “It was an asset. It’s going to be super important to see what happens now, we cannot just leave those [stadiums].”
“The Chiefs don’t belong to Kansas City. They’re the team of Missouri, but now they’re not,” Pat Clarke, president of the Oak Park Neighborhood Association, told The Star.
The team rarely supported East Side neighborhoods, but certain players did, Clarke said.
Clarke recalls a football camp hosted in the area last summer where wide receivers Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, former Chiefs receiver Skyy Moore and Chiefs legend Willie Lanier instructed the kids he mentors. It was one of the few moments where players came to East Side neighborhoods, he said.
“I could see if they loaded up a bus and said, ‘Hey, bring this amount of kids every year [to games]’ and they probably did, but they just didn’t do it over here,” Clarke said. “Where I’m from, anytime we got something done, it was done by an individual.”
Taylor said she believed that some of the biggest impact could come to the city’s Neighborhood Tourist Development fund, which disperses 10% of funds from the convention and tourism tax to nonprofits to host events, promoting tourism.
But both neighborhood leaders are eager to see what will become of Arrowhead and Kauffman, once the teams leave the state.
“Tremendous opportunities to develop that area, some kind of way, to develop that area around that stadium. But you know, we’ve been in turmoil,” Taylor said. “It’s a big, big space, big space... It’s too great of a loss and too decent of a space to just let it go.”
“Riding out I-70 and not seeing a stadium over there, no more. That’s gonna be something right there, because I can’t even imagine,” Clark said. “But what I do want to know is, what’s the plan, though, now that you got five years.”
“Should the team ultimately vacate, I, like many of you will mourn ‘The Home of The Chiiieeefffss',” Patterson Hazley said. “This is a difficult moment that calls for leadership, coordination, and creativity. I am committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure the Third District remains positioned for future growth.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM.
