No shortage of sports venue ideas for Kansas City. See stadium plans future and past

Posted by March 29, 2023 Sports

Designed at the height of the Space Age, the original sliding roof concept for Arrowhead Stadium had a Space Age look.

Designed at the height of the Space Age, the original sliding roof concept for Arrowhead Stadium had a Space Age look.


File

Kansas City Star

Kansas Citians love their sports teams and are attached to the arenas where those teams play.

When team owners talk about upgrading those venues or building new ones, loyal fans are bound to have a keen interest in knowing what the home of their home team is going to look like.

Talk of renovating or building a new sports facility in Kansas City is bound to be followed by a spate of renderings showing conceptual designs for those venues. The owners of the Kansas City Royals are the most recent local team to seriously contemplate a new stadium.

Kansas City sports fans may get more than their share of looks at ideas for state of the art sporting facilities due to the city’s claim on being the sports architecture capital of the world. Many of the world’s most iconic sports venues were designed by architecture firms based in Kansas City.

The most recent Kansas City venue idea is one for a downtown baseball stadium that would occupy the space that is now home to the former Kansas City Star printing plant at McGee Street and Truman Road. Renderings show the modern stadium spanning I-670 and becoming part of the South Loop Link, a planned green space that would cap the interstate highway that defines the southern edge of the downtown loop.

The concept is just one of a handful of designs and locations that have been imagined for a downtown baseball venue.

Dreaming of a new stadium is easy compared to the political wrangling and finding the funds to get one built. The Star’s archive is loaded with a plethora of renderings for the various professional sports venues in Kansas City. Some of those renderings are images that appear close to the actual finished projects. Most of them though are concepts that for a myriad of reasons were never green lighted for construction.

Here are a few noteworthy stadium design ideas. Some of them completed, and some that didn’t make the cut.

A designer’s concept from more than 50 years ago shows a rolling roof sitting on rails between the two stadiums at the Truman Sports Complex.
A designer’s concept from more than 50 years ago shows a rolling roof sitting on rails between the two stadiums at the Truman Sports Complex. File

The original concept of the Truman Sports Complex includes two elements that weren’t built, a space needle topped by a restaurant and the rolling roof.
The original concept of the Truman Sports Complex includes two elements that weren’t built, a space needle topped by a restaurant and the rolling roof. File

A model presented to the Jackson County Sports Authority in 1984 showed what Arrowhead Stadium would look like with a fiberglass dome.
A model presented to the Jackson County Sports Authority in 1984 showed what Arrowhead Stadium would look like with a fiberglass dome. File

A rendering from 2001 shows a concept for renovations to Arrowhead Stadium. This concept from HOK Sports featured beacon towers at the stadium entrances.
A rendering from 2001 shows a concept for renovations to Arrowhead Stadium. This concept from HOK Sports featured beacon towers at the stadium entrances. HOK SPORTS

The idea of a rolling roof like the one in the original concept for the sports complex was being considered when plans were being discussed in the early 2000s for the renovation of Arrowhead Stadium.
The idea of a rolling roof like the one in the original concept for the sports complex was being considered when plans were being discussed in the early 2000s for the renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. File

A rendering from 2004 shows an early concept of what Sprint Center, now T-Mobile Center, might look like when constructed.
A rendering from 2004 shows an early concept of what Sprint Center, now T-Mobile Center, might look like when constructed. File Kansas City Star

This spaceship-like design by the Downtown Area Design Team was one of the concepts in contention for the final design of the Sprint Center, now the T-Mobile Center.
This spaceship-like design by the Downtown Area Design Team was one of the concepts in contention for the final design of the Sprint Center, now the T-Mobile Center. Downtown Arena Design Team

Patterns of clear, coated and colored glass were shown as part of the curved walls of what would eventually become the final design concept of the Sprint Center, now T-Mobile Center, in downtown Kansas City.
Patterns of clear, coated and colored glass were shown as part of the curved walls of what would eventually become the final design concept of the Sprint Center, now T-Mobile Center, in downtown Kansas City. Downtown Arena Design Team

Before they were Sporting KC, Kansas City’s MLS team was known as the Wizards. The rendering for what is now Children’s Mercy Park, where SKC now plays, was branded for the Kansas City Wizards.
Before they were Sporting KC, Kansas City’s MLS team was known as the Wizards. The rendering for what is now Children’s Mercy Park, where SKC now plays, was branded for the Kansas City Wizards.

A rendering of a sports arena currently under construction shows what the soccer-specific stadium being built for the KC Current will look like. The facility is being built near Berkley Riverfront Park next to the Missouri River.
A rendering of a sports arena currently under construction shows what the soccer-specific stadium being built for the KC Current will look like. The facility is being built near Berkley Riverfront Park next to the Missouri River. Generator Studio

Discussions about building a baseball stadium in downtown Kansas City have been around for a while. This rendering from 2005 shows a potential downtown ballpark in the North Loop area around Seventh Street and Baltimore Avenue looking south.
Discussions about building a baseball stadium in downtown Kansas City have been around for a while. This rendering from 2005 shows a potential downtown ballpark in the North Loop area around Seventh Street and Baltimore Avenue looking south. HOK Sports+Venue+Events

This rendering shows plans for the most recent renovations to Kauffman stadium that were done in 2009.
This rendering shows plans for the most recent renovations to Kauffman stadium that were done in 2009. File

A rendering produced by Kansas City based architectural firm Pendulum shows their concept of a downtown ballpark nestled inside the downtown loop.
A rendering produced by Kansas City based architectural firm Pendulum shows their concept of a downtown ballpark nestled inside the downtown loop. Pendulum

This Pendulum concept of a downtown baseball stadium shows a view from inside the stadium with luxury apartments just outside of the outfield.
This Pendulum concept of a downtown baseball stadium shows a view from inside the stadium with luxury apartments just outside of the outfield. Pendulum

A downtown stadium concept for the Kansas City Royals designed by Mammoth Sports Construction has the stadium at the site of the former Kansas City Star press pavilion on McGee Street. In this concept, a portion of the stadium would span I-670. This view is looking west.
A downtown stadium concept for the Kansas City Royals designed by Mammoth Sports Construction has the stadium at the site of the former Kansas City Star press pavilion on McGee Street. In this concept, a portion of the stadium would span I-670. This view is looking west. Mammoth Sports Construction

A downtown stadium concept for the Kansas City Royals designed by Mammoth Sports Construction has the stadium at the site of the former Kansas City Star press pavilion on McGee Street. In this concept, a portion of the stadium would span I-670.This view is looking southeast.
A downtown stadium concept for the Kansas City Royals designed by Mammoth Sports Construction has the stadium at the site of the former Kansas City Star press pavilion on McGee Street. In this concept, a portion of the stadium would span I-670.This view is looking southeast. Mammoth Sports Construction

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