When will planned new Royals stadium at Crown Center open?

As Mayor Quinton Lucas prepared to unveil a funding package for a new Kansas City Royals stadium earlier this month, he said that the team and city wanted to open the stadium by Opening Day 2030.

“That is a very aggressive timetable,” Lucas acknowledged in an exclusive interview with The Star in early April. “It means that a lot of our legislative activity will necessarily move quickly. We will engage fairly actively.”

Nearly two weeks later, Royals majority owner John Sherman, standing alongside Lucas, Gov. Mike Kehoe and Don Hall Jr., the grandson of the founder of Hallmark Cards, announced plans for a new stadium to be built at Hallmark’s headquarters in Crown Center.

Amid the celebratory announcement, however, Royals officials did not clarify when the team hoped to open the new stadium. That lack of clarity was among several unanswered questions that loomed over the announcement, held at a high-end Crown Center event venue on Wednesday.

Sherman, in his remarks to the crowd, expressed a desire to break ground on the stadium project in 2027. But his comments — and a press release put out by the team — fell short of confirming the aggressive timeline emphasized by Lucas and other city officials.

Lucas’ chief of staff confirmed to The Star on Thursday that Opening Day — or the spring of — 2030 was still the mayor’s target.

A Royals spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about that timeline.

A 2030 opening date would put the Royals in a new Crown Center stadium before their lease expires in January 2031 at Kauffman Stadium, located in the Truman Sports Complex.