<\/p><\/div> Here is a rendering of the new Royals stadium at Crown Center.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Across the Missouri River in Kansas, residents responded with a range of emotions Wednesday afternoon to news that the Kansas City Royals plan to build their next stadium near downtown<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some people at the Legends shopping mall in KCK said the prospect of baseball on the sprawling Crown Center development demonstrates the team\u2019s commitment to the region.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Quite a few worried about how a new stadium could affect traffic flow downtown. Several others expressed relief that Kansas taxpayers won\u2019t have to pick up the tab to keep the Royals in Kansas City.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d go wherever they are,\u201d said Deb Geist of Shawnee.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But her excitement about keeping the team close was tempered by questions about the infrastructure challenges that building so close to downtown could present<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just trying to imagine in my world how they\u2019re going to get it (in Crown Center),\u201d Geist said. \u201cWatching the news today and everything, I\u2019m really surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Royals\u2019 Wednesday-morning announcement was short on specifics but outlined the team\u2019s vision for building a roughly $1.9 billion stadium<\/a> inside a $3 billion project at Hallmark Cards headquarters in Crown Center in partnership with the company.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The announcement came days after city officials passed an ordinance authorizing City Manager Mario Vasquez to negotiate a deal worth up to $600 million towards a new stadium in \u201cthe Washington Square Park\/Crown Center area.\u201d It\u2019s unclear how much state money Missouri will contribute to the project under a stadium incentive law adopted by lawmakers last summer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tasjha Dixon of KCK said she\u2019s relieved that the cost of the new stadium will be borne by private investors and Missouri taxpayers. Dixon said she still has serious reservations about Kansas\u2019 ability to afford the $1.8 billion it has pledged to finance a domed Kansas City Chiefs stadium in Wyandotte County. Kansas also tentatively plans to fund $975 million of construction costs for the surrounding development with future sales tax revenue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like, oh my God, that just seems like so much,\u201d Dixon said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She, too, has questions about the impact that a new Royals stadium near the heart of downtown will have on commute times across the metro.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds like it\u2019s going to create a traffic nightmare, I would imagine,\u201d Dixon said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another Legends shopper, Aaron Reid, said he\u2019s dismayed by the trend of professional sports teams moving away from city centers to find the best deal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor instance, the Chicago Bears, they\u2019re leaving downtown Chicago and going over to Gary, Indiana \u2026 I don\u2019t like that,\u201d Reid said. \u201cI\u2019d rather them be really collocated with the city and it be vibrant.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reid is a St. Louis Cardinals fan. Rooting interests aside, he said he believes the proposed Crown Center location speaks well of the Royals\u2019 commitment to the city.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBusch (Stadium in St. Louis) is literally downtown,\u201d Reid said. \u201cI think that adds to the entire environment, culture and support for the team. I get it. It comes down to dollars for a lot of teams, but I would prefer (the Royals) to remain more close to central downtown than what the Chiefs are doing in moving out a little bit farther.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mary Saputo-Raines, a former Hallmark employee, said she has fond childhood memories of visiting Crown Center with family members during the holidays.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFrom someone who\u2019s lived in the area, I mean, Crown Center is huge, and I feel like that will bring traffic back to downtown,\u201d Saputo-Raines said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s kind of a good thing in a way. I mean, I would like them to stay (at Kauffman Stadium). But if they were picking a place, I think that is a decent place to pick.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n David Brandt lives in Overland Park but works in downtown Kansas City. He said he has mixed feelings about Wednesday\u2019s stadium announcement and wants to know more specifics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor the opportunity to go see professional baseball, it\u2019s nice that they\u2019re staying in town,\u201d Brandt said. \u201cBut from just the familiarity of the Truman Sports Complex, I just think that the arteries and highways really lent themselves to that location, and I\u2019m just worried about history repeating itself with Kemper Arena (now Hy-Vee Arena).\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Poor attendance at NHL and NBA games in West Bottoms contributed to the Kansas City Scouts and Kings leaving the city in the 1970s and 80s, respectively.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI understand there\u2019s a counterargument to be made that thirty thousand people didn\u2019t have an issue showing up for Chappell Roan concerts,\u201d Brandt said. \u201cBut the counter to that is, do people with families that live in the suburbs want to finish working downtown, go all the way to their home to pick up the kids, to then turn around and go to downtown to show up by the second inning if you\u2019re lucky?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe Davidson also lives in Overland Park, less than a mile from the Aspiria campus site that the Royals identified last year as one of three locations that were being seriously considered for a new ballpark.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n Courtesy of the Kansas City Royals
\n <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\nMore reactions to Royals\u2019 stadium news<\/h2>\n
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