After looking over two proposals to renovate Kemper Arena, Kansas City leaders have selected to sell the historic venue to a developer who will turn it into a hub for youth and sporting events.
The Foutch Brothers developed a plan to preserve Kemper Arena to spark economic growth in the West Bottoms and downtown Kansas City, while cutting taxpayer spending on maintenance fees.
“We have a chance to redevelop Kemper Arena into a vibrant focal point in the West Bottoms that will help support the existing small businesses and encourage others to open shop and remove the $1 million cost to taxpayers to maintain Kemper today,” said Councilman Scott Taylor, Chair of the Planning, Zoning, Economic Development Committee.
According to the Foutch Brothers, it will take at least $25 million to make necessary renovations.
Steve Foutch said the process has taken three years.
"The building has been underutilized. For a long time there has been a need for a downtown sports arena. It's been a long time coming," Foutch said.
According to the Foutch Brothers, it will take $25 million to $30 million to make the necessary renovations, which include creating a second floor for basketball courts.
Source: Foutch Brothers
41 Action News obtained initial renderings of the Foutch Brothers' plans.
The "new" top floor of Kemper would include locker rooms, concession kiosks and seven basketball courts while the ground floor would include more basketball courts, locker rooms, batting cages as well as space for a cardio room, weight room, yoga studio and karate dojo.
Source: Foutch Brothers
Steve Foutch said the process has taken three years.
The next step is to move forward to the negotiation phase with the Foutch Brothers proposal, which is one of two proposals submitted during the May 2015 nationwide Request for Proposals for the redevelopment of the Kemper Arena site.
The city will present details of the redevelopment proposal to the public at Kemper Arena on May 18 at 6 p.m.
The news release from the City Planning and Development Department says the city’s selection process continues with financial vetting of the project and negotiation of the final sale.
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