KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The proposed site of a new Royals stadium in Kansas City, Missouri's Crossroads district has area businesses on edge as the community prepares to vote on the decision in April.
The project, which aims to revitalize and bring new opportunities to the area, is now met with mixed reactions from the business community that may bear the brunt of the development.
“We moved in here because they were some of the only people that didn't tell us to go away in 2005 because we completely redid this place from top to bottom. So we got to make it just how we wanted it," said Chet Duvenci, owner of The Mercy Seat Tattoo and Art Gallery.
For nearly 20 years, the tattoo parlor has seen the highs and low of the Crossroads area, while helping rebuild the community.
“Over the years, we've seen a lot of artists and musicians and this was a neighborhood that nobody wanted to be in," Duvenci said. "So, we all moved here and we made something really nice and now that we've made something beautiful everybody wants to be a part of it and some people want to come destroy it.”
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Over a week ago, the Kansas City Royals made the announcement that the proposed stadium would be built between Grand Boulevard and Locust Street from Truman Road to 17th Street.
“When I first heard the Royals' plan of where they wanted to put their stadium and drop it right on top of us, I thought it was a joke," Duvenci said.
For other newer businesses in the area, like Salon on Grand, the uncertainty of the announcement was difficult to fathom.
“I have mixed emotions, just because with being newer to this area, I definitely want what's good for the city, but at the same time, I also want what's good for the block," salon owner Erin Bero said. "Everybody here is just so supportive and so it would be sad just to see all of the businesses like myself that have worked so hard to just go away and have to be moved.”
John Sherman, Royals Chairman and CEO stated that the team's front office hopes to meet with the business owners and tenants this week.
The upcoming April vote will determine the fate of the Royals stadium project, leaving the local businesses in the Crossroads area in a state of anticipation.
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