The city announced plans on Monday to repurpose Kemper Arena into a youth sports complex.

Only eight events were held at Kemper Arena over the last year, but just upkeep of the building cost taxpayers a million dollars a year.

Now proponents of the new plans hope to turn it into a two-story sports complex and fill it with people once again.

"I was dismayed because I was like, 'why are we running around all over the area here and never play here in Kansas City?'" said Patt Losiewicz, a parent and also the President of Swope Ridge Neighborhood Association.

She said her granddaughter plays club volleyball, but they're always traveling elsewhere to play since, she said, there are no facilities to support a tournament here.

"We would be in hotels and out eating and spending money and they're getting the taxes, we're not," Losiewicz added.

After a nationwide search for a redevelopment plan for Kemper Arena, City Councilman Scott Taylor, the head of the committee making this decision, said they've decided on a proposal that will create a place where kids and adults can come play basketball, volleyball, and other indoor sports.

"The Foutch proposal is the one that we think is the most dynamic, that has the most opportunity for creating year round activity in the West Bottoms," said Taylor. "It will attract tournaments regionally, for people from many other states to come into Kansas City."

Even school districts could utilize the space.

"We came up with the idea to have the second floor at the balcony level, to add a second level to the whole building to have more capacity to bring in more revenue, which would make it financially feasible to keep it open," said Steve Foutch, Managing Partner of Foutch Brothers.

Foutch said they needed to find a way to preserve the building that was financially doable.

"We already have a Sprint Center, we have Bartle Hall, so I can't really compete with their level, so I had to find that other set of users," Foutch added.

Councilman Taylor said the demolition cost of Kemper Arena could be anywhere from $5 - 6 million, up to $10 million depending on how it's done, and that would be at the taxpayers expense.

"Kemper Arena is costing taxpayers $1 million dollars a year just to maintain, and there's really no activity going on," Taylor said.

Now both Taylor and Foutch said instead of just a few events on the weekends a year, this space could be used all 365 days.

Wednesday night there will be a special city council committee meeting at Kemper Arena at 7 p.m.

There will also be a public tour of Kemper Arena at 6 p.m.

The city wants public feedback on the project before there's a final council decision.

 

Source : fox4kc.com

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