Royals announce future plans to move to new ballpark in downtown Kansas City

Since 1973, Kauffman Stadium has been the home of the Kansas City Royals. But after this decade, the Royals plan on moving on from their longtime home. But don’t worry, they’ll remain in Kansas City.

On Tuesday afternoon, in a letter released to fans, Royals owner John Sherman revealed the team’s future plans to build a new ballpark in downtown Kansas City — or as stated “close to it” — and surround it with a “ballpark district.”

It’s format seems to be similar to St. Louis and its famous “Ballpark Village” adjacent to Busch Stadium III.

As for the ballpark district, here’s a section of the letter that outlines the vision of the stadium’s future, courtesy of CBS Sports: 

  • Our vision is to not just build a facility that does justice to the spirit of The K. We want to construct a world-class experience – a new ballpark district and all that comes with it – one that is woven into the fabric of our city, can host events and concerts, and boosts our local economy.   We also envision incorporating our Kansas City fountains, the Royals’ crown and our team’s rich traditions and history in a new ballpark district.
  • The proposed ballpark district would become a new home for Royals fans far and wide – both inside a state-of-the-art ballpark and in the revitalized surrounding area. We will marry the traditions of The K with a better experience for our fans.
  • With a mixture of public and private investment, including our own intention to invest hundreds of millions of dollars directly into the ballpark and the ballpark district, the long-term vision remains a work-in-progress. We envision local restaurants and shops, office spaces, hotels, and a variety of housing opportunities accessible for Kansas Citians from all walks of life. Affordable housing options will be important to our efforts. We would also work closely with our local transportation leaders to ensure public transportation options accommodate a new ballpark district.

They haven’t yet nailed down a specific spot, but said they have “several leading locations under close consideration.”

The club released an artist rendering of the new ballpark the Royals plan to unveil for the 2030s, which is the featured picture of this article.

Aside from the Coliseum in Oakland, there are only four MLB ballparks older than Kauffman Stadium: Fenway Park (Red Sox, 1912), Wrigley Field (Cubs, 1914), Dodger Stadium (1962) and Angel Stadium (1966). 

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