North Kansas City is the best location for a new Royals stadium | Opinion
Imagine a new Royals stadium sitting on 95 acres dedicated solely for a ballpark experience, with a view of downtown Kansas City, access to a streetcar line and easy pedestrian and bicycle traffic to and from downtown 80-plus days a year. These reasons and more are why the new home of the Royals should be in North Kansas City.
The financial due diligence was completed and proved feasible using the data provided by the Kansas City Zoo as a base. Both Clay and Jackson county taxpayers contribute an eighth-cent sales tax to the zoo. We think it is only fair to share the cost of our other regional assets. This was before the bipartisan funding legislation passed in Jefferson City, led by the Clay County legislators, that will lower the tax burden on Clay County residents.
The Merriman family purchased 95 acres of land in North Kansas City that could accommodate the ballpark, and they would work with the Royals to make the area a unique experience, including plenty of room for parking and tailgating.
The day the Royals whittled the field of locations down to two, I met with the district engineer from the Missouri Department of Transportation to discuss access to the site. It is important to remember that 35,000 people go to work daily in North Kansas City. The improvements would be designed to keep any game day traffic south of Armour Road, thus limiting any intrusion of the residential neighborhoods on its north side.
When fans make purchases in the North Kansas City, they would be paying a sales tax of 7.475% rather than the 9.975% they pay in Kansas City. Stadium employees would be able to keep the 1% of their pay they currently pay in Kansas City’s earnings tax.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, whose district includes North Kansas City, was very receptive to the idea of the KC Streetcar line taking baseball fans to the northernmost stop, then connecting from downtown via bus to North Kansas City and the new stadium.
I’m confident we could use our Jefferson City and MoDOT connections to close a lane of the Heart of America bridge a few hours before game time, creating pedestrian and bicycle access that has never been a part of a game day experience in Kansas City. Whether they’re going to the game or not, people living downtown could enjoy an experience like no other baseball stadium provides.
The relationships have been built that would allow us to present to every chamber of commerce, service organization, community and church group and others. Being home to one of the 30 Major League Baseball teams in the world be amazing.
It did hurt getting left at the altar when the Crossroads site was selected, but we never left the church. If the Royals pick North Kansas City, we’ll deliver.