KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some elected leaders are optimistic about the Royals building just east of Union Station.
Councilmembers Andrea Bough and Kevin O’Neill expressed that in an interview with FOX4 Thursday morning. The statements come less than three weeks after the Chiefs announced they plan to move to Wyandotte County, Kansas and Kansas City, Kansas.
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O’Neill said late last year, he thought the Royals were considering a Kansas location, the North Kansas City site – and the place he wants the team to build at.
“What I’m surprised the Royals didn’t learn from their first foray into a vote down on the Oak Street Kansas City Star building is that neighborhoods are important,” he said next to Bough. “To not go talk to them and find out what their needs are can be disastrous, and I think that’s what they found out at the Overland Park location.”
The Royals wouldn’t comment Thursday. April 2 this year will mark two years since the failed Jackson County, Missouri, vote when the Royals planned to build at the Star’s former Press Pavilion in the East Crossroads.
Washington Square Park, on the other hand, is already in the hands of the city. Kauffman Stadium is the county’s property, not the city’s. Bough said her entity will have to play a much bigger role if the Royals are going to stay in their city limits starting in 2031.
“I think Washington Square Park is the number one option,” Bough said Thursday. “I think we’ve presented the Royals with a very fair and good proposal, and I think in the end, that’s where the Royals will make a decision to go.”
The two council members both believe the city can put together a package the Royals like without a vote of the people in their limits. Other leaders have shared similar opinions recently.
On Tuesday, Mayor Quinton Lucas said that there will obviously not be a Chiefs or even a Royals vote of the people in April of this year.
Bough added that this process will go through committees. That means the public would get to weigh in on the issue on Tuesdays before the City Council would vote on them on Thursdays.
O’Neill believes the process is narrowing down with Kansas Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins’ recent statements that he’s moving on from the team. On Wednesday, Clay County Commissioner Jason Withington expressed frustration, too.
O’Neill mentioned that the city can only control what it can control, likely referring to the fact Washington Square Park is run by the city parks department. He believes most of the stadium development would be north of Pershing and not south of it, closer to Crown Center.
“We know there’s vacant parcels on the north side of the stadium, whereas Crown Center doesn’t really have vacant parcels, and they’re in charge of their own development,” he said. “So, that’s something that I think Crown Center and the Royals would have to come to agreement on.”
O’Neill was talking about a potential Washington Square Park site when he said the word “stadium.” Crown Center representatives would not respond to FOX4 in time for our Thursday deadline.
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