Fans in cities around the nation celebrated Major League Baseball's Opening Day on Thursday. For the Kansas City Royals, the first pitch marked the end of an eventful offseason both on and off the field.
Jackson County voters will decide next week whether to extend a 3/8th-cents sales tax on the April 2nd ballot that would provide funding for Arrowhead Stadium renovations and a new downtown Royals ballpark.
At Kauffman Stadium, the Up To Date team talked baseball and ballots with key team officials and others.
If the Royals ultimately get their wish to move to the Crossroads, Royals owner John Sherman says he thinks it makes sense for the team to buy property around the ballpark and try to give it a "neighborhood feel," citing stadiums like Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago.
"We'd love for that to feel like a neighborhood ballpark, and a year after we build it, it'll feel like it's been there forever. And that's our objective both with Populous, our architect for the building, but also the urban planners and designers who will be helping us around the ballpark."
- Whitney Manney, fashion designer
- J.J. Picollo, Royals general manager
- Frank White III, KCATA director
- John Sherman, Royals owner
