Well, ain't that a bummer. The soccer team Kansas City Wizards has been listening to sweet music from out by the Kansas Speed Way, and is very strongly considering taking their field and other assorted goodies to Kansas City, Kansas. The original plan was for a stadium, fields, hotel, and retail at the old Bannister Mall site, but apparently Kansas' Star Bonds, which feature money up front sweetened the deal even more than the TIFs and tax deferments from KCMO and was too much for the Wizards to resist. Mayor Funkhouser has been making noise about trying to keep them from going over, but even he states that there is only so much the city can give.
Cerner, which has a presence at Marion Park, was also going to have some employees at Bannister; they are saying they are still in at the Bannister site, but are also planning to have a site at KCK, and have several thousand employees there.
It's a really tough thing to lose this, especially for Hickman Mills school district, which is already being hammered by the decreased retail base. That land is all potential now, nothing actual, with the Mall taken down. We definitely need Cerner to keep its promises, to stay in Marion Park and to have more facilities at Bannister.
This just bites.
News links:
Wizards stadium project kicked over the state line to Wyadotte County Ks
Sports and Money: stadium nice but Cerner real catch
Leaders Reaction to Soccer Stadium project loss
Village West Eyed for Wizard's Stadium
And this just in--Wyadotte County Endorses Development
That's what I get for checking to see if my links work--news didn't get any better.
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