Everyone,
An article will appear on the Star website later tonight and in the paper in the morning. Basically, it will outline a stadium development proposal that we have been working on with the Unified Government and State of Kansas.
If I were you my natural first reaction would be, “oh no, here we go again!”
When we purchased the team in late 2006, we did so with the understanding that the most critical thing that needed to be done for the viability of the team was the development of soccer specific assets. It was the major theme emphasized to us by the late great Lamar Hunt.
Since then our group has had a series of up’s and down’s, start’s and stop’s, achievements (at least in our minds) and failures. While we expected to be and wished we were further along on the development of the stadium, the facts are facts and we’ve found ourselves with a beautiful site in southeast Kansas City, a partner in the city and state, and a financing structure that has become all but moot in this new found world of banking and capital markets.
The Trails is our favorite site as evidenced by our activities of the past two years, but we need a stadium and we need it fast. This has caused us to keep us cognizant of other opportunities. “A Real Opportunity” to us means a few things: (i) capable of playing games in the 2011 season, (ii) provide access to adjacent entertainment and athletic amenities and (iii) provide a first-class fan experience. We think this is “A Real Opportunity,” and we’ve been working on it for the past few months and believe the Unified Government would be a great partner. As the most vocal of the ownership group, I know I’ve been absent this year, primarily because I wanted to make sure I actually had something to say and not just blow smoke.
We’re going to show you renderings and break my cardinal rule (not showing the stadium until we absolutely positively knew it was the final design), but I think you deserve to see some proof of the work we’ve been doing. We’re still shooting to design the most authentic soccer stadium in the US and think we have a couple good ideas on making if very unique for the fans.
The bottom line is that when we bought the team we knew we needed the stadium for the team, the fans and the viability. We’re doing everything we can to make this a reality. There are many more details to follow in the coming days, but I hope we can get your support and leave you saying, “here we go!” as opposed to your natural first reaction.
Thanks,
rh