Stadium Issue
To take a break from the depressing state of the Royals, I thought I'd discuss the stadium issue. Clearly, something has to be done to improve Kauffman and Arrowhead. In fact, it's required in the lease that the stadiums remain in "state-of-the-art" condition. One architectural firm, HOK, might be selected to do renovations. There is certainly a significant cost involved in making the stadiums "state-of-the-art", especially the renovations the Chiefs have in mind:
"HOK officials stated that they thought it would cost about $290 million to bring Arrowhead Stadium alone up to a “state-of-the-art” condition. That phrase comes from the county’s 1990 leases with the Royals and Chiefs, which extend to 2014."
The stadium issue a tough one for Kansas City. But, it's also extremely important if Kansas Citians want to keep the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas City. The voters rejected Bi-State II, a plan that would have included renovations to the Truman Sports Complex. That plan would have cost Kansas Citians $1.2 billion, a substantially larger sum than the new plan on the ballot.
In the works is a much smaller plan than Bi-State II, a sales tax referendum that would increase Jackson County sales tax by a quarter-cent for four years. This would raise $80 million for renovations to the Truman Sports Complex. Jackson County maintains that $80 million would be enough to fulfill its maintainence obligations in the lease.
The Chiefs are much more ambitious and forceful in their demands while the Royals seem to be content with "Band-Aid" repairs, similar to ones the Royals tried to use on their team this year. So, I supposed that's all the Royals really deserve are some "Band-Aid" repairs. Ideally, I'd like to make the Chiefs and Royals leases seperate entities after this lease expires. That might help reduce the financial burden on Jackson County from becoming overwhelming.
As far as the referendum goes, most of the discussion was back in February. There hasn't been any publicity for it that I have seen. The Royals do need to make their demands known so that Jackson County knows exactly what they need to do to fulfill the lease. That could be one reason why the referendum hasn't gained any momentum.
Articles used as sources, for your perusing as well:
Royals happy at Kauffman
County Discusses Stadium Upgrades
Give Taxpayers Charity
Hire Independent Architectural Firm
"HOK officials stated that they thought it would cost about $290 million to bring Arrowhead Stadium alone up to a “state-of-the-art” condition. That phrase comes from the county’s 1990 leases with the Royals and Chiefs, which extend to 2014."
The stadium issue a tough one for Kansas City. But, it's also extremely important if Kansas Citians want to keep the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas City. The voters rejected Bi-State II, a plan that would have included renovations to the Truman Sports Complex. That plan would have cost Kansas Citians $1.2 billion, a substantially larger sum than the new plan on the ballot.
In the works is a much smaller plan than Bi-State II, a sales tax referendum that would increase Jackson County sales tax by a quarter-cent for four years. This would raise $80 million for renovations to the Truman Sports Complex. Jackson County maintains that $80 million would be enough to fulfill its maintainence obligations in the lease.
The Chiefs are much more ambitious and forceful in their demands while the Royals seem to be content with "Band-Aid" repairs, similar to ones the Royals tried to use on their team this year. So, I supposed that's all the Royals really deserve are some "Band-Aid" repairs. Ideally, I'd like to make the Chiefs and Royals leases seperate entities after this lease expires. That might help reduce the financial burden on Jackson County from becoming overwhelming.
As far as the referendum goes, most of the discussion was back in February. There hasn't been any publicity for it that I have seen. The Royals do need to make their demands known so that Jackson County knows exactly what they need to do to fulfill the lease. That could be one reason why the referendum hasn't gained any momentum.
Articles used as sources, for your perusing as well:
Royals happy at Kauffman
County Discusses Stadium Upgrades
Give Taxpayers Charity
Hire Independent Architectural Firm
posted by SoonerRoyal at 10:30 PM
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