Kansas City Star
By KEVIN COLLISON
Columnist
Posted on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004
Kansas City is the home of some of the top sports architects in the world.
With that in mind, I thought it would be enlightening to ask them how they would do a downtown baseball field here if the opportunity ever arose. The first to accept the invitation was Ellerbe Becket.
First, here's a little about the company. It's based in Minneapolis, but its sports division was founded in Kansas City in 1988. It employs 80 architects, engineers and interior designers at its offices at 4600 Madison Ave. I don't have space to list all its major projects, but here are a few recent ones:
Centennial Olympic Stadium (Atlanta Braves) in 1996, Seahawks Stadium (Seattle) in 2002, Ford Field (Detroit Lions) in 2002, Bank One Ballpark (Arizona Diamondbacks) in 1998, and the renovation of Lambeau Field (Green Bay Packers) in 2003.
So where would they recommend building a ballpark if they had the opportunity?
Right across the street from Crown Center on a cozy site bounded by Grand Boulevard, Main Street, Pershing Road and the Kansas City Terminal Railway tracks. Right now, that area is occupied by Washington Square Park, a large parking lot controlled by Union Station and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City office building.
Ellerbe Becket architects estimate that for about $350 million, a state-of-the-art ballpark could be built there that would seat 42,000 people. It would offer dramatic city views, and Liberty Memorial would tower behind home plate.
As with other urban ballparks around the country, its site would shape its form. The dimensions would be left field line, 331 feet; left center, 410 feet; dead center, 405 feet; right center, 357 feet, and right field line, 319 feet.
"Like other old ballparks created out of the street grid system, it would be part of the urban environment," said architect Michael Sabatini.
Among the major pluses of locating a ballpark there: It would require little or no new parking, thanks to existing nearby parking garages; it would provide huge spinoff benefits to Crown Center, Union Station and the Freight House District; it would be on the planned bus rapid transit line; and it would be in a comfortable quadrant of downtown.
Between Crown Center and Union Station, there would be about 10,000 parking spaces within a two-block radius available after hours and weekends for games. A modern environment of hotels, office buildings and retail already exists, along with attractions that would feed off a ballpark crowd.
"It's one of the most efficient sites they could find because of the built-in amenities and parking," said Bill Lucas, president of Crown Center Redevelopment. "It makes a lot of sense. It's probably the one thing that would connect downtown with Crown Center, and that's always been a goal."
Turner White, the chief executive of Union Station Kansas City, said a ballpark there would be a huge traffic generator for his facility, which could use the financial boost.
"Nighttime is tough for the urban area," he said. "We're all looking for stimulus that would draw ancillary activity and provide a rebound effect."
The architects also think the land could be obtained at a reasonable cost. Union Station would be "extremely flexible" about furnishing the 5.5-acre parking lot it controls, White said. Using part of the 5-acre city park would require a public vote, but if that was accomplished, the price probably would not be high.
What about Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which owns its building at 2301 Main St.?
"That's a way, way premature concept," said Peter Yelorda, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Blue Cross.
It doesn't take much to imagine how attending a ball game at the site envisioned by Ellerbe Becket would be a dramatically different experience from going to Kauffman Stadium. Rather than arriving in your car, walking across parking lots, going to the game and then leaving, you could have a far more entertaining experience.
Walk from your office, park the car in a nearby garage or take the rapid transit line, and then have drinks and dinner at Crown Center, Union Station or the nearby Crossroads District. Afterward, you could hop on the rapid transit line or walk to the new entertainment district being planned for the South Loop area eight blocks away.
The architects see a ballpark at that site as being a bookend to the entertainment district, the performing arts center and the arena being discussed for the South Loop/convention center area.
Of course, a $350 million ballpark is more expensive than the $177 million being proposed to renovate Kauffman Stadium to keep the Royals here. But Ellerbe Becket's people think the spinoff benefits would make the additional cost well worth it.
"It's a visionary thing," said an Ellerbe Becket spokesman. "We're thinking long term about how this investment would pay off for downtown over the years."
When and if the other big sports architecture firms respond, I'll do columns about their ballpark ideas.
Contact: news@ellerbebecket.com
