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September 10, 2009
Wizards to play off one K.C. against the other?
The Kansas City Wizards are looking across the river in Kansas City, Kansas in their search for a new stadium, and boy, is stadium-lovin' Kansas City Star writer Kevin Collison excited. Check out this lede:
The Kansas Speedway area has emerged as the new choice for a long-sought Wizards soccer stadium in a sweeping proposal that would include at least 4,000 new Cerner Corp. jobs.
Read further down, and it turns out that the Wizards owners are just saying they'd "consider" putting a new office for their software company there, if they decide to open one. Also, that they plan to ask the state and county for sales-tax money to build the $400 millin project.
Kansas City, MO city council member John Sharp, meanwhile, who represents the Bannister Mall area that the Wizards had previously targeted for a stadium, sounded jilted: "The city and state of Missouri have offered these developers every economic incentive we have to offer. I don't know what else we could do, other than offer to back all their construction costs. ... I don't know if we could do that without severely jeopardizing the city credit rating." Or the two Kansas City could stop throwing money at stealing each other's development projects — but that'd be crazy talk.
There is no river separating KCMO from KCK.
Posted by Max on September 18, 2009 10:18 AM
The Kansas Speedway site actually is on the other side of the Kansas River from KCMO. But point taken.
Posted by Neil on September 18, 2009 10:40 AM
Its crazy spending that kind of money for a stadium for the MLS. Thank God KCK is trying to steal the Wizards from KCMO. We've spent enough just keeping the Chiefs and Royals here. The Cerner Corporation is still considering the Bannister Mall area for expansion of its operations in the future. Time will tell. Btw, only KCK is trying to steal from KCMO. The Wizards only play in KCK because the Chiefs would no longer let them play at Arrowhead.
Posted by Chris M on September 24, 2009 04:51 AM