KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After 12 years as a Kansas City Royals fan, Matt Adkins says things are changing.
"I'm not anti-sports, but I think I've gone to my last Royals game, though, after all of this has come down," Adkins said.
Adkins owns a business in the Crossroads District and is trying to keep things organized and steady at his business, The Pairing, as voters decide whether to pass a stadium sales tax.
"Obviously, it's gotten more tense in the last week or so," Adkins said. "And what little bit of sleep I did get last night, I just woke up today, and yeah, I think anxiety is just through and through."
Stacking his inventory, with some odds possibly stacked against him, he's hopeful but worried about the future of the Crossroads.
"I can speak to other business owners in the area — we are all terrified right now," he said. "We are not sleeping, we are not good mentally right now, and we just want to put this all behind us."
Jill Cockson, who owns the Chartreuse Saloon, continued to pour into her business Tuesday while waiting for the votes to come in.
"The vote today is telling us how we are going to start phase two of this because they already said that a 'no' vote could mean that they finance it themselves," Cockson said. "A 'yes' vote could mean we don't have any idea of the timeline."
Cockson told KSHB 41 the result of Tuesday's vote is just the next step up for business owners like herself, who want to see the Crossroads remain at the top of culture and arts in Kansas City.
“It is the fabric of the community. It's not the buildings; it's not a stadium; it's the people doing interesting, unique, creative things, and this neighborhood is some of this city's most tenacious, creative, hard-working people," Cockson said. "We didn't have three million dollars, but we have a real passionate, creative, and tenacious neighborhood."
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