By James Dornbrook
The
quest to replace Kemper Arena is like a duck on a pond moving quietly
forward on the surface, with turbulent paddling going on underneath.
It's
been a year-and-a-half since the American Royal and the Kemper family
released a proposal to raze Kansas City's Kemper Arena and replace it
with a 5,000-seat Agricultural Events Center that better fits the needs
of the American Royal and agricultural-related events. But there is
still no signed agreement in place, no memorandum of understanding on
how to move forward.
Behind
the scenes is the American Royal, which is tirelessly negotiating,
quietly raising money, constantly strengthening its case and rallying
supporters to its cause.
The
strongest point of the American Royal's debate is that the city
continues to pump millions of dollars into upkeep of Kemper Arena, which
languishes in relative obscurity. Its busiest tenant right now is the
Kansas City Renegades, a Champions Professional Indoor Football League
team with six home games.
"Kemper
Arena is no longer the facility it was when it was leased to us,
primarily because of the construction of the Sprint Center downtown,"
said Brant Laue, chairman of the board of governors for the American
Royal. "Everyone recognizes that. There frankly are not too many people
using Kemper Arena anymore aside from us, and it's not well suited to
our needs."
Mariner
Kemper, son of Kemper Arena's namesake R. Crosby Kemper Jr., said most
people don't remember or understand that the original designs for the
arena were focused specifically on use by the American Royal. But as the
process went along, the city decided it needed a multipurpose arena to
attract sports and other events, and it was redesigned.
"People
forget that," Kemper said. "And while the arena isn't always full for
an American Royal event, it isn't because the American Royal isn't doing
well. It's full at the level a similar event would be at in another
city."
Kemper
argued that it's better for the city to pump current maintenance
dollars into a new venue that would boost the American Royal and help
attract more events to the city. He said the American Royal commissioned
a study that shows hundreds of agricultural events throughout the
country not only looking for new facilities that are more conducive than
a multipurpose arena, but for venues closer to home. Most venues
fitting their needs are on the East Coast, not smack dab in the middle
of the United States like Kansas City.
"I
think it's a real opportunity to breathe life into the American Royal
and capture events around the country that are going elsewhere today,
because the Kemper and its surrounding buildings aren't conducive in a
way that they could be if they were designed specifically for
agricultural-related events," Kemper said. "People tend to forget just
how huge the American Royal is for this city. It has as much economic
impact as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game did last year, and
they do it every year."
Laue
said the time to act is sooner rather than later because Kemper Arena
continues to deteriorate. He understands that Kansas City is working on
other projects — such as a streetcar, a 1,000-room hotel, sewer
improvements, etc. — but he says Kemper Arena also needs to be on the
list of priorities for the city.
"Everybody
acknowledges that Kemper Arena is problematic, so our view is that now
is the time to act," Laue said. "If not now, when? If not this, what? So
we're charging forward."
