Update, 1:10 p.m.
The Republican National Committee announced Wednesday that Cleveland, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas, were finalists to host the 2016 Republican Convention. Kansas City and Denver have been eliminated.
Committee members were in Kansas City earlier this month to tour facilities and meet city officials. In a release, the committee says the decision was based on a review of bids and information gathered at site visits to each city.
Brenda Tinnen, who chairs Kansas City’s Convention and Visitor Association says cutting KC out of the running wasn’t that easy for the GOP site selection committee.
“I have heard that meetings (Wednesday) morning took much longer, they were very passionate, and vocal debates on each of the cities,” she said.
Tinnen says the she hasn’t heard why Kansas City failed to make the next cut. The committee bounced Denver today, too, which unlike Kansas City, has a good rail transit system and well over 20,000 hotel rooms.
Our original post continues here:
Sources tell 9News that Kansas City lacks the infrastructure the RNC site selection committee was looking for. The event is expected to bring as many as 50,000 visitors to the host city.
The Kansas City effort to land the GOP convention involved money and maneuvering from both sides of the state line. The Kansas City Bid Task Force has already secured $30 million in pledges to pay for the convention, about half of what hosting would ultimately cost.
