KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri's, next stadium is on the river's horizon.
"This stadium and our Riverfront is Kansas City's front door, so it is the place that is going to catalyze what we do in Kansas City," said Jon Stephens, president and CEO of PortKC. "For the benefit of all of our citizens, this means jobs, this means places to live, this means economic opportunity, and we’re excited and committed to doing that the right way."
That opportunity has business leaders making sense, and dollars, of the future impact.
"The businesses at City Market are all small and local, mostly family owned," said Sue Patterson, marketing director at the KCMO City Market. "So the activity that KC Current is going to bring this area means so much to their bottom lines."
The dirt is coming out of the ground, and the Current hopes to pour dollars back into the Riverfront, and not just with soccer matches.
The team hopes to have other events and festivals at the stadium. The Current's neighbors at Sporting Kansas City have seen in real time what new facilities can do.
"For our region, it'll have a massive impact, our stadium had a huge impact on Village West, but also on the city in general, I don't think it's limited to location of stadium," said Jake Reid, SKC President and CEO.
As the building begins, long-time KCMO residents like Sandra Sayner say accountability is key.
"What happens if this doesn't bring back what they've projected? We can't continually live on theory, we have to live on results," Sayner said.
Sayner is the former president of the Briarcliff West HOA, and says a new stadium like this one should be built in an equitable city for all.
"It's one thing to bring in all of these new beautiful pretty things we want to do to our city, but we have a lot of wounds that haven't been addressed," she said. "Until you open those wounds, clean them out, and let's take care of them so you build a solid foundation."
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