This past August while visiting Kansas City I got the chance to catch a Royals game at Kauffman Stadium, or “The K”. While I’ve visited Kansas City several times I had only been to The K once before, for an off-season tour of the stadium on a brisk November day.
During that previous off-season visit we learned about plans to open up and connect the section of the stadium behind the outfield fountains, and on this most recent trip I was able to see the final results.
Prior to first pitch we toured the exhibits and memorabilia in the Kauffman Hall of Fame, which is a really nice feature of the ballpark.
The game itself featured the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. This matchup is known as an I-70 Series, referring to the interstate connecting both cities (as well as a throwback to the rivalry stemming from the 1985 World Series).
Kauffman Stadium opened in 1973, making the date of this game within the 50th anniversary season of the ballpark (which also means The K shares a birth year with Hip Hop).
The Royals have been floating the idea of building a new stadium closer to downtown KC, catching up to a trend in ballpark development that started in the 1990s. The current stadium’s freeway-centric location next to the Chief’s Arrowhead field amidst a sprawling parking lot is indicative of the “super stadium” developments of it’s era.
Shortly after I returned home to Pittsburgh the Royals released some visualizations of the proposed new stadium. While these renderings feature the iconic outfield fountains, the distinctive CrownVision screen was conspicuously absent.
The Royals recently announced their intent to build the new stadium in Kansas City’s Crossroads district. The proposed development is sited in an existing arts district and would involve the demolition of several blocks. So I’ll be interested in how the new stadium plans move forward while relishing my memories of The K.