‘Get it done today’: Mayor Lucas talks stadium deals as bill sits in Missouri Senate

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - As a stadium funding bill sits in the Missouri Senate on Wednesday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas took to radio to provide more thoughts on the future homes of Kansas City’s major league franchises.

In an interview on 96.5 The Fan’s ‘The Drive’ with Carrington Harrison, Lucas expressed optimism for the future of the Kansas City Royals in a potential move to Washington Square Park and pushed back on complaints from St. Louis-based representatives with opposition to helping pay for projects that would keep teams in Kansas City.

“Kansas City has lots of national and global attention right now,” Lucas told Harrison. “The reason we are relevant is because people know what’s going on with the Chiefs. And they know about Taylor Swift being here, I hate to say it. And they know all of those other things.

“If not, we are another community -- not to say we aren’t special and perfect, I’ve lived my life here. Those are the things that put you on the top, the front page of what’s going on in the world. It helps me sell Kansas City for business investment.”

Lucas’ appearance on the radio show comes just a few days before he’s set to embark on a trip to Qatar for business reasons, a trip his office said Wednesday was suggested by the Qatari Embassy in Washington “based on Kansas City’s status as a FIFA World Cup city.”

“I promise you to a person, I was a mayor in 2019 and people would be like, ‘OK, cool, we’ll think about it,’” Lucas said. “Now, people want to come here. They want to visit, they want to see it, they want to build here. That is the difference and what having these teams in this city does. That’s why so many people are working so hard to see it happen.”

Lucas complimented Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe for his in the attempt to keep the teams in the Show-Me State, while criticizing representatives from St. Louis who voiced opposition.

“We actually helped invest in and fund Busch Stadium 2.0,” Lucas said. “That stadium had from Missouri state taxpayers. I’ve been a Missouri taxpayer for a long time. We didn’t complain about it. We were glad to be a part of it. Same thing with the Edwards Jones Dome previously. There were state tax breaks in that and state money.”

Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis was funded with nearly 90% of its costs by the Cardinals but received State help with public infrastructure costs to prepare the area for development. The Edwards Jones Dome -- as Lucas called it -- which is now known as The Dome at America’s Center, used state bonds in 1991 to build the $300 million dome, according to an AP report.

When lease negotiations between the City of St. Louis and Rams owner Stan Kroenke dragged on the team eventually moved to Los Angeles.

“So I don’t know why they are holding us to a different standard at this point from the way it has been done in St. Louis,” Lucas said, noting the bill in Jefferson City would help the Cardinals and St. Louis Blues with potential stadium upgrades if ed. “I don’t know why they’re deciding to pick this fight with Kansas City right now.

“I’ve heard different rumors... and I don’t really care because for me it is ‘do we want these cities to be things we’re proud of? Or do we just want to talk about crime in the cities and all the other challenges we have today and are likely to have into the future?’”

As information swirls about a potential Royals stadium in Clay County, Lucas said he met with of the Royals organization Monday night to discuss potential plans at Washington Square Park. Lucas said that conversation comes as he focuses on an existential crisis of finding reasons for people to go downtown and invest in the city’s urban core.

“We had a long conversation about downtown, about Washington Square Park and how if we get that deal done, how the State money is an important part of it but how basically we can be done with this in days or weeks, rather than talking about this for months and years,” Lucas said.

“We want the Kansas City Royals to remain in Kansas City. We think we’ve laid out a good space for them to be in downtown Kansas City. We basically have broad of an agreement that can work well for the future of our team and the future of our city.”

Lucas said other details on a plan for that location could follow shortly, saying he’s seen renderings for a ballpark and development in that area just east of Union Station.

“When I say days and weeks, I really do mean it,” Lucas said. “I would expect renderings to you very soon.”

If the bill fails in the Missouri Senate, Lucas said Kehoe has already indicated a special session could follow to hash out the issues.

“They have a brilliant opportunity to get it done today,” Lucas said. “Yes, we can come back for a special session in two weeks, everybody can lobby it, everybody can have debates about it and we can have all the TV cameras set up. Or we can do what I think is the right thing and get it done right now.”

You can listen to the entire interview here.

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