Kansas City Legend Bill Nigro Stands With 'Save The K' Advocates

Westport impresario and longtime friend Bill Nigro was kind enough to share some thoughts with us about the future of local stadium negotiations and his love for the K. 

His notes started with this . . .  

"Kansas City just showed the world that we have one of the greatest sports complexes in the world, and we are so stupid that we are going to mow it over! It boggles my mind." 

From a longtime local businessman, a constant promoter of Kansas City and leader of Westport through both good and bad times . . . Here's the word: 

Bill Nigro Warns Downtown Stadium Will Repeat Power & Light’s Financial Failures

"I heard the same con job 20 years ago with the Power And Light district and look at how much money it loses every month. Now they want to build another entertainment district around the stadium that will compete with the power and light so it can lose more money. 

"Power And Light currently cost the city 1.5 million every month until the year 2040. The city also gets no sales tax or earnings tax out of the Power And Light District because it also goes to pay off their loans. They carefully selected questions from the crowd and they ended the meeting early because people were shouting down to the stage. The parking numbers they gave us for the area don’t include the people that work or live there that are already taking up spots. We have two beautiful stadiums that are always in the top 10 nationwide for the sport. Royals Stadium was ranked 47th out of 350 stadiums worldwide. 

"This year Kansas City Royal Stadium was ranked seventh best stadium in the country. They claimed that there would be no issues with access but they’re going to leave in all the bike lanes and road diets.  I wonder if they ever did a study about how many people actually ride those bike lanes. Think about all the access points at Royal Stadium and how wide the streets are going in and out. The current stadium has at least five times more road width to give access to games. 

"Crime is the number one issue. Who’s going to walk 20 minutes out from the stadium at night? You are taking a big chance. We currently have one of the safest stadiums in the country. Our Truman sports complex gets a few drunk drivers and drunk fights, but no one ever gets robbed or has to worry about getting to their car safely. 

"Ticket prices at the new stadium will probably be twice as much and parking will be more expensive close in. This city only invest in downtown, 18th and Vine, the City Market and sports teams. Everybody else in this town is sh*t out of luck and we will continue to pay for all the mistakes that City Hall keeps making downtown and the surrounding area."

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Developing . . .