After coming off a very successful season including making
the World Series, Kansas City is now talking about possibly moving the Royals
into downtown. Yeah this isn’t really anything new.
The
first time this idea came up was a decade ago back when Kansas City had plans
on revising the downtown area with the Power & Light Entertainment District
and the Sprint Center. The city brought up the idea about putting a ballpark in
downtown but it never got close to being serious. That was also when the city tried
to bring the retractable roof idea on the Truman Sports Complex back into the
mix. The idea of the retractable roof failed again but two years later the city
decided to renovate the Truman Sports Complex instead to make Kauffman and
Arrowhead up to date.
It
took about two years for Kauffman Stadium to undergo renovations until the 2009
season when the renovations were finished. They widened the concourses, added
more seats to the outfield, added a team hall of fame, upgraded the concession
stands and restrooms, upgraded the scoreboard to high definition and many other
upgrades.
After
Kauffman Stadium was renovated the idea of a new ballpark was laid to rest and
the Royals renewed their lease to the 2030 season. However after the Royals
successful 2014 season (which included their first playoff run in 29 years
including being runner ups in the World Series) the idea of a downtown ballpark
was thrown back into the mix with the recent success.
Honestly
I really don’t see a point in this idea going forward. Sure the Royals have
been doing well and made baseball fun again in KC. However, Kauffman Stadium is
fine and up to date, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.
Although
I will say that the idea and the view of a new ballpark in downtown would look
nice. However I don’t see that happening because Downtown Kansas City isn’t big
enough to accommodate the amount of traffic for a Royals game. Not to mention
there isn’t enough parking spaces in downtown to accommodate the Royals either,
which is why Kauffman Stadium is the perfect location for the Royals. Kauffman
Stadium has a very a wide location that has the right amount of parking to
accommodate the number of fans for the games throughout the season. Plus if
there’s one thing the fans like to do at games at Kauffman and Arrowhead is
tailgating. If they had a ballpark in downtown the fans wouldn’t be able to
tailgate the games. Plus downtown is making enough money off the entertainment
it offers with events at Kauffman Performing Arts Center, Folly Theater,
Municipal Auditorium/Music Hall, KC Repertory Theatre, KC Convention Center,
The Midland and Sprint Center.
If
anything, the city is talking about adding things new with the Royals they
should put more things around the Truman Sports Complex. All that is around the
Truman Sports Complex now is three hotels, two gas stations, a Taco Bell and a
church. Adding more around The K would bring more money to the surrounding area
and would keep the Royals where they are and the city can just call it even.
The
Royals are doing better than ever in a very long time, the city should just
stay the course and maybe make minor adjustments around the park but other than
that leave it alone. Like they always say don’t fix it if it isn’t broke.
