Great start to 2024 – Downtown Baseball Stadium moves forward

On Monday, the Jackson County Legislature, with an 8 to 1 vote, resoundingly passed an ordinance to put the 3/8-cent sales tax extension on the ballot in April! This is the first step in creating a new Downtown Kansas City ballpark district. The sales tax will help fund a renovated Arrowhead Stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs as well as a new downtown ballpark for the Royals.

Before us stands a unique opportunity to correct past wrongs of misplacing critical community assets in isolation of other key amenities and neighborhoods. We believe Downtown Kansas City is the best location for a new ballpark district based on accessibility, connectivity, and Downtown’s incredible vibrancy. And the teams agree; on Friday, they issued a joint statement indicating a commitment to stay in Jackson County, which would include a ‘robust’ community benefits agreement if voters approved the sales-tax extension in April.

The Downtown Council is overwhelmingly pleased with the legislature’s vote yesterday and has actively engaged with the community and stakeholders via advocacy efforts, communications, research, and analysis for the past several months.  

We have stayed in constant communication with the Kansas City Royals, Jackson County Executive and Legislators, the Mayor’s office as well as businesses and residents to move this catalytic project forward. The new downtown ballpark district is a priority of the Imagine Downtown KC Strategic Plan endorsed in 2022. 

We sincerely appreciate all the time, effort, and commitment of our members who took the time to send an email, write a letter, or pick up the phone and engage in this project!

We look forward to participating in the next steps as we work to leverage this project for the benefit of the entire community and help pass the vote in April.