‘Crown jewel’: On the near-and-far ripples of the KC Current’s stadium project
When Mayor Quinton Lucas is spreading the gospel of Kansas City, he’s got plenty to work with these days.
From the ongoing streetcar expansion to the Chiefs winning two of the last four Super Bowls, from the new Kansas City International to all that comes with being selected a 2026 World Cup host city, it’s a happening time here.
To say nothing of being able to extol established civic treasures such as the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, the National WWI Museum and Memorial and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum.
Great stuff. All of it.
But you know what he likes to tell people about as much or more than anything else these days? And what has some of the most resonance and capacity to capture imaginations?
It’s the tale of the Kansas City Current and the prevailing wave the club is creating in the National Women’s Soccer League and globally with its unprecedented commitment to women’s sports and, in fact, Kansas City.
In about every meeting anywhere he goes, Lucas relishes the chance to tell the story of the club’s jaw-dropping contributions to the sport and its players and exemplary investment in the community.
“The Current story,” he said, “is probably the biggest part of the Kansas City story that I share right now.”
Same here, by the way, whenever I’m telling friends about Kansas City — where maybe not quite everything is up to date but a whole lot is and much is forward-looking.
That was nicely embodied in the “topping out” ceremony Wednesday for the privately financed 11,500-seat and approximately $117-million ultramodern stadium being built on the Missouri River at the Berkley Riverfront. It was a moment to pause and appreciate the accumulating significance of what Current co-founder Chris Long quite reasonably believes is “a crown jewel for Kansas City.”
Never mind that in one sense it was just another day in the building process through primary design and construction partners Generator Studio, JE Dunn and Monarch Build.
Because there’s been no such thing as “just another day” in a labor of love for so many — including literally among the 130 people working on-site every day that JE Dunn vice president Scott Sherry said take enormous pride in the nature of this project.
That passion was evident to Long over a Joe’s Kansas City BBQ lunch for the tradesmen: An ovation erupted among them when Long said he hoped they understood the broader impact of their work as he congratulated them on the skill and expertise that has kept the project on-time and on-budget.
That told him they understood the “monster impact” they are making beyond the physical construction, an impact that makes what might otherwise seem like ordinary checkpoints momentous.
“Stadium construction happens all the time,” said Long, who founded the franchise with his wife, Angie, and Brittany Mahomes — whose husband Patrick has since become an investor. “But this stadium is different for all the reasons everyone’s talking about. Every milestone is particularly special. Why?
“Because it hasn’t been done before.”
As it happens, the franchise was unfurling something else novel a year ago to the day: a still-unrivaled $19 million training facility in Riverside.
The Wednesday event commemorating installation of the final steel beam signed by many was fresh affirmation of the club’s mindset as it sets about opening the stadium in early 2024.
For one resounding thing, it was a statement that whatever we think might be considered world-class about Kansas City now has another dimension to it:
“Truly world-class in terms of inclusion, as well,” Lucas said a day after his reelection on Tuesday night. “World-class in too many past iterations has excluded large groups of our population, including women — a substantially large group of our population.
“And today, I think we’re saying we’re going to be very different.”
It also signals a different time in the framing of the city, as the once-neglected riverfront continues its substantial revival with what will also be an entertainment venue stoking further growth around it.
What Lucas suggested in some ways is the “centerpiece” of the completion of a puzzle already has led to more growth and connectivity.
And, yes, by the way, he was conscious of talking about this amid the Royals’ intentions to move from Kauffman Stadium into what owner John Sherman has called a downtown ballpark district.
The process has become a slog that was detailed by The Star last week.
“I’m not here to opine, necessarily, on the future of downtown stadiums in any other sports,” he told a group of reporters. “But this is a project that clearly got it right, clearly found a space that made sense and, frankly, has that acceptance and excitement from the community.”
Lucas later told The Star that he is “expecting real, material progress” over the next few months and that he believes the Royals “understand that there’s some work that they need to do.”
That’s another matter, though, for another time.
And lest we overlook the very heart of this: There figures to be much to love about the stadium itself — including state-of-the-art luxury suites, sightlines that ensure no seat is more than 100 feet from the touchline and surrounding panoramic views of downtown, the river and the Christopher Bond Bridge.
“Every seat in the house is perfect. Literally perfect,” said Chris Long, also noting the plans for local food and beverages and adding, “I can go on and on. I just absolutely love every aspect of it. And I’d say the city’s going to love it. I just know it. They’re going to love it.”
As much as this distinguishes Kansas City, though, it’s part of a greater vision.
When Angie Long says, “We’re focused on achieving what was previously thought impossible,” she also means the ripples of commitment in the NWSL, global soccer and women’s sports overall.
And here the essence of that is, coming more into tangible form every day.
“You can’t unsee it,” Chris Long said. “It raises the bar just by the nature of its manifestation. People are going to have to match and/or raise the bar themselves.
“So that level of impact is so awesome to have our city be at the forefront of. Kansas City is at the forefront of that type of multiplier effect.”
At the forefront of more, yes.
But thanks to imagination and boldness, an epicenter in itself in “a space that Kansas City had forgotten,” as Lucas put it.
“But look at us now … (in) a place that’s really the centerpiece of a resurgence of our community …” he said. “I say thank you to the KC Current for all that you have done.”
This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 8:19 PM.