Downtown Baseball Stadium!!!!!

[ShowMeKC]

Will be by crown center and linked to the arena proposed with Kansas City Live! (with parks and stuff)

DEVELOPMENT

Ellerbe Becket steps up with ballpark idea

By KEVIN COLLISON

Columnist

Kansas City is the home of some of the top sports architects in the world.

With that in mind, I thought it would be enlightening to ask them how they would do a downtown baseball field here if the opportunity ever arose. The first to accept the invitation was Ellerbe Becket.

First, here's a little about the company. It's based in Minneapolis, but its sports division was founded in Kansas City in 1988. It employs 80 architects, engineers and interior designers at its offices at 4600 Madison Ave. I don't have space to list all its major projects, but here are a few recent ones:

Centennial Olympic Stadium (Atlanta Braves) in 1996, Seahawks Stadium (Seattle) in 2002, Ford Field (Detroit Lions) in 2002, Bank One Ballpark (Arizona Diamondbacks) in 1998, and the renovation of Lambeau Field (Green Bay Packers) in 2003.

So where would they recommend building a ballpark if they had the opportunity?

Right across the street from Crown Center on a cozy site bounded by Grand Boulevard, Main Street, Pershing Road and the Kansas City Terminal Railway tracks. Right now, that area is occupied by Washington Square Park, a large parking lot controlled by Union Station and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City office building.

Ellerbe Becket architects estimate that for about $350 million, a state-of-the-art ballpark could be built there that would seat 42,000 people. It would offer dramatic city views, and Liberty Memorial would tower behind home plate.

As with other urban ballparks around the country, its site would shape its form. The dimensions would be left field line, 331 feet; left center, 410 feet; dead center, 405 feet; right center, 357 feet, and right field line, 319 feet.

[Allan]

A baseball stadium seems like it would be a great addition to DTKC.

[ShowMeKC]

yes, but unfortunately its just a "pipe dream" right now. Like someone said at the KC site, "Sort of: "if we built a downtown ballpark, where would you put it and how would it look?""

[Allan]

With the amount of development happening though, it seems like a baseball stadium would be a possiblity in the future.

yes, but unfortunately its just a "pipe dream" right now. Like someone said at the KC site, "Sort of: "if we built a downtown ballpark, where would you put it and how would it look?""

You could do what Detroit did & demolish an entire neighborhood full of skyscrapers to make room for it . Why did they do that? There are plenty of other spaces near DT Detroit where so much demolition wouldn't have been required.

[ShowMeKC]

lol I dunno, however this will be on a park so...

the third tallest building in the city will be nearby: Hyatt Regency Crown Center and only 1 block away. By the way, there are 2 or maybe 3 5 star hotels which will be around the ballpark (already built, like Hyatt Regency)

[ShowMeKC]

Firm says Royals would love a new, smaller park

By KEVIN COLLISON The Kansas City Star

Another of our city's premier sports architecture firms has stepped up to the plate with a downtown ballpark idea.

This one turns conventional wisdom on its head, and gives it a whole new spin.

The architects at Heinlein Schrock Stearns believe that for about the same price being kicked around for building bigger bathrooms and concession areas at Kauffman Stadium, we can build a 25,000- to 28,000-seat ballpark downtown that would easily accommodate most crowds attending Royals games and generate lots of new cash for owner David Glass.

[turlough]

YAY baseball . IMO because i'm such a baseball fan I say put it where ever you want mow down everything no one will mind

[ShowMeKC]

Add even more backing to the stadium idea

Kemper backs downtown ballpark

KEVIN COLLISON

Add another voice

[BGT]

I would hate to see a great ballpark like Kauffman go.

[ShowMeKC]

yes, but wouldn't you like to see a stadium better than Kauffman?

We already have one of the nation's top sports architectural firms, HOK Sports.

Here is a clip from HOK's website:

Our portfolio is diverse and comprehensive, and includes projects for nearly all sports at every level. Our clients include 24 of 30 Major League Baseball franchises, 30 of 32 NFL franchises, 75 professional and civic arena clients, 40 soccer and rugby teams, and 75 colleges and universities.

Our architects are the world's finest and most experienced, drawing from the combined expertise of more than 600 sports projects. With offices in Brisbane, Australia; London, England; and Kansas City, Missouri, our reach is worldwide.

[Allan]

HOK designed Comerica Park in Detroit. It's nice, but it's so more spread out than the old stadium. And it's harder to see the ball than it was in the old stadium. I really have to wonder what they were thinking when they made the field so deep also. Oh well, it's still offers a great view of the downtown skyline.

[wolfdawg54]

Love baseball! Hopefully it will work out.

[ShowMeKC]

Support is still growing.

From the Kansas City Star:

Ballpark overhaul plan faulted

By KEVIN COLLISON

The Kansas City Star

Kansas City Councilman John Fairfield repeated his support for a downtown ballpark Wednesday, but he stopped short of lobbying against a bistate plan that would renovate Kauffman Stadium.

Fairfield told about 50 persons at a meeting of the Downtowners, a pro-downtown organization, that he supports using a proposed bistate sales tax to renovate Arrowhead Stadium and build a planned performing arts center, but opposes the part of the bistate plan calling for spending $180 million to overhaul Kauffman.

[ShowMeKC]

Downtown Stadium still gaining support:

See how Tennessee concentrates on downtown

By KITE SINGLETON

Guest Columnist

I'm joining the bandwagon for a downtown baseball stadium.

After a visit to Tennessee's three main cities, all smaller than metropolitan Kansas City, it is clearer to me than ever that downtown Kansas City is the place where we should be concentrating our effort.

An additional baseball investment at the Truman Sports Complex would be counterproductive. That decision was made in the mid-1960s, when Metroplan (the predecessor to the Mid-America Regional Council) identified a series of suburban freeway interchanges as investment centers. Morgan Maxfield came to town with Lamar Hunt to announce that that was the future of metropolitan areas, and the political and real estate stars aligned to fix on the Truman location. The flow of investment capital out of central Kansas City that was precipitated by those decisions has only recently begun to abate.

Here's a quick look at what's going on in Tennessee.

Downtown Memphis is so compact. The replica streetcar line runs in a loop on Main Street north to the Pyramid arena, circles along the riverfront to the loft and town home community developing in the south, and then returns through the arts district. It was an easy walk.

Beale Street is short but active. At its eastern end, a new arena is under construction. While we're talking about building a downtown arena, they're doing it, and it will put a strong anchor right where it will do the most good for the viability of their downtown.

The baseball stadium is only a few blocks north. The convention center is there, too. And the Peabody Hotel rivals the Drake in Chicago. It's a destination in itself, complete with the duck parade every day