KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mixed reaction continues among Kansas City Royals fans after the MLB team announced a new ballpark was coming to the Kansas City area.
The Kansas City Royals have said it's down to two locations, North Kansas City in Clay County and downtown Kansas City by the East Village in Jackson County.
The team says a final decision will be made by September. Meanwhile, some Royals fans believe the front runner is the downtown location, which Kansas Citians who live in the area say would generate additional revenue and propel economic growth.
"It'll help in the downtown area, the businesses and the people that depends on it and increase property values," said Kenneth, who lives in downtown Kansas City.
Some Royals fans disagree with a downtown location, believing the team should invest their money in attracting top MLB talent.
"The whole idea of a downtown stadium is not popular with the fan base, which is suburban, and they find it easy to get in and out of the present stadium," Philip Cardarella said. "If the ownership really wants to improve and have people come to games, they need to invest in another good closer, pitchers, hitters. That's why people come to baseball games."
Royals owner John Sherman has been tight-lipped on which location the team is leaning on, but has made it clear, Clay County is a serious contender. The North Kansas City location would give the Royals 80 acres of space to work with compared to the 20 acres that would be allotted to the team if they chose to relocate to downtown.
"I think North KC would benefit a lot more than downtown," said Isabelle Bohlken, who lives in North Kansas City, "I think people would welcome it here. I think it would support businesses out here."
Additional details are expected to be released over the next coming weeks on what parking and transportation would look like once the new ballpark site is selected.
"I feel North KC is already on its own little separate area, you add a stadium here, it's going to be just like downtown, no parking," explained Leonardo Barraza, who lives in North Kansas City.
The Royals estimate the project would cost $2 billion dollars.
