Second Kemper Arena proposal wants minor league hockey

.The second proposal for Kemper Arena in Kansas City calls for a minor league hockey team.

The Pitch weekly newspaper first reported the nature of the second of two proposals for Kemper, and a knowledgeable source confirmed the report Wednesday for The Kansas City Star.

The proposal comes from Rodney and Brandon Steven, who own Genesis Health Clubs in Wichita and a stake in some hockey teams.

The Steven brothers did not return phone calls seeking comment.

But the source also said the proposal did not meet the city’s needs because it sought to just lease Kemper Arena and compete with the city’s primary arena, Sprint Center. The city wants to sell the aging and financially-struggling Kemper Arena and find a use that does not compete directly with the Sprint Center.

That leaves the city with one possibly viable proposal, from the Foutch Brothers development company, to create a complex for youth and adult amateur sports. The city in May had issued a national request for new ideas and viable uses to try to save Kemper from demolition.

Steve Foutch said Wednesday that he had heard vaguely about the second proposal.

“I’ve heard rumblings and rumors about the other group wanting to lease the property, which is not responsive,” he said.

Foutch said his company is still very interested in acquiring Kemper from the city and preserving it as an amateur sports mecca. But he said he has heard nothing recently from city officials and he hoped the process could move forward soon.

The City Council’s Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee discussed Kemper Arena in a closed session that lasted nearly an hour Wednesday, but committee members and city staff declined to comment afterward.

Committee Chairman Scott Taylor said nothing will happen before the Thanksgiving holiday because the council is off next week.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Second Kemper Arena proposal wants minor league hockey."