We don't know who the Wizards opponent will be in their US Open Cup qualifying match is yet, but we do know what location the Wizards are using in their bid to host the game. Buried in an article about an Olathe School Board meeting (Thanks to KC Soccer Review), is a note that the district agreed in principal with the Wizards for the College Boulevard Athletic Complex to be the site of the Wizards match on June 4. The deal is pending a formal approval by the district and the Wizards.
I would assume that this is not for sure the site of the game yet. Team's in the US Open Cup bid to the USSF to host the game. So the Wizards and CBAC will be going up against Dick Sporting Goods Park (Colorado) and the Home Depot Center (LA) for the chance to host this qualifier.
The Wizards will face the winner of the Rapids and the Galaxy, who meet May 27th in LA.
Showing posts with label Olathe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olathe. Show all posts
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Friday, December 07, 2007
Bannister NOT Wizards Only Option
One day after Mayor Funkhouser stated that while "excited" about the planned redevelopment of Bannister Mall, he didn't want the plan to use the Super TIF that the plan called for, the developers stated their displeasure in his decision.
The article has quotes from the councilwoman, Cathy Jolly, of the district that includes the Bannister Mall complex. Her and councilman, John Sharp are definitely for this development. To overrule a potential veto by Mayor Funkhouser, Jolly and Sharp would have to get the backing of 6 more of their colleagues to be on board with them. To override the veto, the council would need a 3/4's majority (8 of 12).
Should the plan not pass, it's not like the Wizards will be left out in the cold. As with all good businessmen, OnGoal LLC has a backup plan should the Bannister plan fail. That plan involves the team staying in Kansas and moving down south to Olathe. While the OnGoal still says that Bannister is where they want to play, the city of Olathe has approached the team about using STAR bonds to help build a stadium out in the southern KC suburb.
The article has quotes from the councilwoman, Cathy Jolly, of the district that includes the Bannister Mall complex. Her and councilman, John Sharp are definitely for this development. To overrule a potential veto by Mayor Funkhouser, Jolly and Sharp would have to get the backing of 6 more of their colleagues to be on board with them. To override the veto, the council would need a 3/4's majority (8 of 12).
Should the plan not pass, it's not like the Wizards will be left out in the cold. As with all good businessmen, OnGoal LLC has a backup plan should the Bannister plan fail. That plan involves the team staying in Kansas and moving down south to Olathe. While the OnGoal still says that Bannister is where they want to play, the city of Olathe has approached the team about using STAR bonds to help build a stadium out in the southern KC suburb.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Bannister Mall
News continues to come out about the Kansas City Wizards and a possible stadium site where Bannister Mall currently sits.
While Olathe continues to work to get STAR Bonds approved for the stadium, Kansas City seems to be working to woo the Wizards to the Bannister Mall location. KC Councilman, Chuck Eddy is wanting to get the team out to the Bannister site.
The Bannister site is also close to the old Marion Labs buildings which Cerner is now leasing. Cerner is owned by Neil Patterson who is a prinicpal owner of the Wizards. Which you can't chalk up to just coincidence that these 2 things are happening.
Apparently enough progress has been made on the topic that " The Economic Development Corporation has published a notice for a public hearing at the April TIF Commission meeting." These are big steps being made, and is good news for Wizards fans that want a stadium. The TIFs, Tax increment financing, that are referred to, are a tool for redevelopment and community improvement projects. They are the same thing that was used on the old Blue Ridge Mall to bulid the Wal-Mart at I-70 and 40 Highway.
As I've mentioned in the past, I like the fact that there are 2 sites kinda competing for the Wizards stadium. In the article, Eddy even talks about the competition, saying he's worried about what Olathe could offer the team. As he mentions, neither the city, nor the state have anything that could compete with the STAR Bonds that Olathe is looking to get to help finance the stadium.
Both sites have their pros/cons, the Olathe site would be close to the precieved target market for the Wizards team, the soccer moms and dads in Johnson County. The main con is the fact that Olathe is on the edge of the metro area. Only recently has Olathe truly become a full fleged suburb of KC as the suburban sprawl has reached Olathe.
Bannister on the other hand is a more centralized location for the Kansas City area. It also has great highway access, which Eddy touches on as well in the first article, as it is right off of I-435, and just north of the Grandview Triangle where 71, and I-470 meet with 435. It's main draw back is something I have touched on previously, and that's the preconcieved notion that the Bannister Mall location is a high crime area and not a good place to go.
Here's a link to google maps with Bannister Mall on it for those of you that might not know where Bannister Mall is.
While Olathe continues to work to get STAR Bonds approved for the stadium, Kansas City seems to be working to woo the Wizards to the Bannister Mall location. KC Councilman, Chuck Eddy is wanting to get the team out to the Bannister site.
“We’re still talking with the Wizards and trying to make this a reality,” Eddy says. “It would be huge, there’s no doubt about it.”
The Bannister site is also close to the old Marion Labs buildings which Cerner is now leasing. Cerner is owned by Neil Patterson who is a prinicpal owner of the Wizards. Which you can't chalk up to just coincidence that these 2 things are happening.
Apparently enough progress has been made on the topic that " The Economic Development Corporation has published a notice for a public hearing at the April TIF Commission meeting." These are big steps being made, and is good news for Wizards fans that want a stadium. The TIFs, Tax increment financing, that are referred to, are a tool for redevelopment and community improvement projects. They are the same thing that was used on the old Blue Ridge Mall to bulid the Wal-Mart at I-70 and 40 Highway.
As I've mentioned in the past, I like the fact that there are 2 sites kinda competing for the Wizards stadium. In the article, Eddy even talks about the competition, saying he's worried about what Olathe could offer the team. As he mentions, neither the city, nor the state have anything that could compete with the STAR Bonds that Olathe is looking to get to help finance the stadium.
Both sites have their pros/cons, the Olathe site would be close to the precieved target market for the Wizards team, the soccer moms and dads in Johnson County. The main con is the fact that Olathe is on the edge of the metro area. Only recently has Olathe truly become a full fleged suburb of KC as the suburban sprawl has reached Olathe.
Bannister on the other hand is a more centralized location for the Kansas City area. It also has great highway access, which Eddy touches on as well in the first article, as it is right off of I-435, and just north of the Grandview Triangle where 71, and I-470 meet with 435. It's main draw back is something I have touched on previously, and that's the preconcieved notion that the Bannister Mall location is a high crime area and not a good place to go.
Here's a link to google maps with Bannister Mall on it for those of you that might not know where Bannister Mall is.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Stadium news for KC
Good news for the Wizards lately on the stadium from, as Olathe seems to be stepping up to try and get a stadium built for the Wizards. The KC Star on Wednesday, posted this article about the current process that Olathe is going through. Olathe officials basically had to get state lawmakers to alter the law for STAR Bonds to get a stadium and soccer hall of fame. Later in the same day, the Star posted this article as well. As a continuation from the first story, it discusses the fact that the Senate agreed with Olathe "that sales tax revenue could be used to pay for a professional soccer stadium there." This is fantastic news for the Wizards, as there had not been much news about a new location for a Soccer Specific Stadium since the failure of the youth soccer bill for 159th and 69 Highway back in November and the subsequent pulling of support by the Overland Park mayor of the STAR Bonds that were to be used for a stadium and commerce area.
Another exciting part of the first article, is the fact that we could a competition starting to get the Wizards. Along with Olathe working to get STAR Bonds changed so that they can work to get the team there, the article also mentions a location that had been mentioned in an earlier Down the Byline entry. Bannister Mall is apparently a very viable location for the Wizards to build their stadium. With Wal-Mart closing their supercenter in that area, the area is almost entirely empty of major businesses to hold down that 300 acre commercial area. The fact that there is more then 1 location being looked at as a site for the stadium means that people are starting to look more seriously at the effect of soccer on the community.
OTHER WIZARDS AND MLS NEWS
The Wizards have confirmed the news that was first posted on bigsoccer, then here in this blog. That news being that Alex Zotinca is no longer with the Wizards. In this press release, the Wizards confirmed that Zotinca is out, he was traded to Chivas USA where he's reunited with Preki. The Wizards in return get a conditional pick in next years SuperDraft. While Zotinca was decent for the Wizards, he was never more then a utility player on the right side of the field in the midfield and the back. But with the drafting of Michael Harrington and Jack Jewsbury apparently getting more time at right back, Zotinca had become expendable.
Some very good news for the Wizards back line, Jimmy Conrad is going to be staying with the team. Lillestrøm have apparently given up in their bid to land the KC and US center back. I hope the Wizards and the league lock him up for the rest of his career then give him a nice cushy job writing articles for MLSnet and doing commentary on MLS games.
Kansas City finally picked up their first preseason win this week against the Fire, 3-0. Although apparently a guy that was at the game said the score was 4-0. The updates from down at camp keep coming in as well, check out KC Wizards.com for all those entries, as I said before, good reads.
Some new info I just found out today, thanks to JoeW on bigsoccer. According to Steven Goff with the Washington Post, the Wizards are apparently interested in Luciano De Bruno of Hapoel Tel Aviv. De Bruno is a 28 year old Argentine attacking midfielder, here is a wikipedia entry on him, although it appears to be written by someone who is not a fan. There's some rather harsh language in it about him, so you have been warned. We were told that the team was looking at an Argentinian, but I'd thought it have been a player currently playing in Argentina.
De Bruno was also involved in a recent altercation with Rangers keeper Allan McGregor in the second leg of their UEFA Cup match recently.
One last thing I wanted to post, this is the transcript of a question Steve Nash was asked recently on PTI, this is a great endorsment for the league, thanks to D at DCenters for posting it.
Another exciting part of the first article, is the fact that we could a competition starting to get the Wizards. Along with Olathe working to get STAR Bonds changed so that they can work to get the team there, the article also mentions a location that had been mentioned in an earlier Down the Byline entry. Bannister Mall is apparently a very viable location for the Wizards to build their stadium. With Wal-Mart closing their supercenter in that area, the area is almost entirely empty of major businesses to hold down that 300 acre commercial area. The fact that there is more then 1 location being looked at as a site for the stadium means that people are starting to look more seriously at the effect of soccer on the community.
OTHER WIZARDS AND MLS NEWS
The Wizards have confirmed the news that was first posted on bigsoccer, then here in this blog. That news being that Alex Zotinca is no longer with the Wizards. In this press release, the Wizards confirmed that Zotinca is out, he was traded to Chivas USA where he's reunited with Preki. The Wizards in return get a conditional pick in next years SuperDraft. While Zotinca was decent for the Wizards, he was never more then a utility player on the right side of the field in the midfield and the back. But with the drafting of Michael Harrington and Jack Jewsbury apparently getting more time at right back, Zotinca had become expendable.
Some very good news for the Wizards back line, Jimmy Conrad is going to be staying with the team. Lillestrøm have apparently given up in their bid to land the KC and US center back. I hope the Wizards and the league lock him up for the rest of his career then give him a nice cushy job writing articles for MLSnet and doing commentary on MLS games.
Kansas City finally picked up their first preseason win this week against the Fire, 3-0. Although apparently a guy that was at the game said the score was 4-0. The updates from down at camp keep coming in as well, check out KC Wizards.com for all those entries, as I said before, good reads.
Some new info I just found out today, thanks to JoeW on bigsoccer. According to Steven Goff with the Washington Post, the Wizards are apparently interested in Luciano De Bruno of Hapoel Tel Aviv. De Bruno is a 28 year old Argentine attacking midfielder, here is a wikipedia entry on him, although it appears to be written by someone who is not a fan. There's some rather harsh language in it about him, so you have been warned. We were told that the team was looking at an Argentinian, but I'd thought it have been a player currently playing in Argentina.
De Bruno was also involved in a recent altercation with Rangers keeper Allan McGregor in the second leg of their UEFA Cup match recently.
One last thing I wanted to post, this is the transcript of a question Steve Nash was asked recently on PTI, this is a great endorsment for the league, thanks to D at DCenters for posting it.
KORNHEISER: ...Do you seriously think that David Beckham is going to make an impact in soccer in the United States?
NASH: He will make an impact because he's a huge star regardless of the sport, and he'll put soccer in every magazine and every newspaper and TV Show. You guys will be dying to have him on PTI. He'll make an impact because a lot of people will be exposed to the sport. But I really think this sport is on its way in this country regardless. I think the talent is growing, I think they've always had the grassroots, and the professional league is building soccer-only stadiums. There's a lot of money going into it, so I think soccer is here to stay. It may never be as big as the big four, but it's definitely growing, and maybe it'll be the fifth sport. Obviously, I'm a fan and a bit biased, but I think it's really on its way.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Wizards Home for 2007 revisited
Recently I'd done two blog entries about where the Wizards would play their home games in 2007. With all the recent developments lately on where they'll play, I felt it would be a good time to revisit this issue, as the season grows ever closer.
The first blog I did about the issue. Came out after the superintendent of the Ray-Pec school district came out and said they were out of the running and that the Wizards were going to play somewhere in Olathe. From the 6 sites I listed in that blog, the only one that was located in Olathe was College Boulevard Activity Center. This led me to believe that the Wizards were possibly going to this site, which seemed to be a favorite among many Wizards fans.
The second, and more recent blog I did, involved the Wizards returning to Arrowhead for the 2007 season, as the renovations to the facility would not involve the seating area. With this info and some information about who the Wizards were talking with about concessions, it seemed like the Wizards could be going back to Arrowhead. Another option that pleased Wizards fans, as it meant that the fans to tailgate with alcoholic beverages if they so choose to.
Now we get up to the present, where we have some new information that has come out. Recently on bigsoccer, a person that teaches in the Ray-Pec school district posted two bits of information (one, two) that he found out about the Wizards still possibly coming to play in Ray-Pec. Not the best location for many of the Wizards fans, in the voting of the 6 locations I listed in my first blog on this topic, Ray-Pec did not fair very well as a location. One thing I found out that works against Ray-Pec is that supposedly no contracts have put in bids yet to work on adding the extra seating that would need to be added to the stadium. This process and the process of ordering the supplies can take at the least, 2 months, which would be pushing the them to be done by Cinco de Mayo, the date of the Wizards first home game. I don't know if all this is 100%, but does make the next bit of information more interesting.
The second bit of interesting information, came last night, from Metro Sports, a local sports network. Metro Sports was reporting that the Wizards would be playing their 2007 home games back at Arrowhead stadium, instead of temporary facility. As I had stated in my blog earlier, Arrowhead is still a viable option due to the type of renovations that will be occurring in 2007 at Arrowhead. The Wizards would though still have to find a home for 2008, and that coudl still be any of the sites I listed, or 2 more that Metro Sports listed that I had never even heard about being in the running, William Chrisman High School and Truman High School, both in Independence.
Finally today, to try and put some of the rumors to rest, this message was posted on bigsoccer, from Robb Heineman, the Wizards President. This is good news for Wizards fans, as it will finally bring to a close to the situation, although many Wizards fans are rightfully cautionous and won't believe it "until they get their tickets."
One last thing I wanted to touch on from the Metro Sports article, was the second to last paragraph in the article I linked above. Apparently the Wizards are interested in the Bannister Mall site in South KC. As rumors around KC have swirled on some other forums and outlets around KC as well about the possiblity of the Bannister site. Another one. A Third. This is a topic that will continue to be looked at and speculated on. Personally, I'm not sure what to think of the idea. It's a good location for a stadium, but my worry is the stigma, assumptions, or predeterminations that people have about the area, particularly Johnson County residents (people the Wizards try to get to attend games). The assumption is that the area is high crime and a "ghetto." This worries me in that it will likely keep people from wanting to attend the games.
The first blog I did about the issue. Came out after the superintendent of the Ray-Pec school district came out and said they were out of the running and that the Wizards were going to play somewhere in Olathe. From the 6 sites I listed in that blog, the only one that was located in Olathe was College Boulevard Activity Center. This led me to believe that the Wizards were possibly going to this site, which seemed to be a favorite among many Wizards fans.
The second, and more recent blog I did, involved the Wizards returning to Arrowhead for the 2007 season, as the renovations to the facility would not involve the seating area. With this info and some information about who the Wizards were talking with about concessions, it seemed like the Wizards could be going back to Arrowhead. Another option that pleased Wizards fans, as it meant that the fans to tailgate with alcoholic beverages if they so choose to.
Now we get up to the present, where we have some new information that has come out. Recently on bigsoccer, a person that teaches in the Ray-Pec school district posted two bits of information (one, two) that he found out about the Wizards still possibly coming to play in Ray-Pec. Not the best location for many of the Wizards fans, in the voting of the 6 locations I listed in my first blog on this topic, Ray-Pec did not fair very well as a location. One thing I found out that works against Ray-Pec is that supposedly no contracts have put in bids yet to work on adding the extra seating that would need to be added to the stadium. This process and the process of ordering the supplies can take at the least, 2 months, which would be pushing the them to be done by Cinco de Mayo, the date of the Wizards first home game. I don't know if all this is 100%, but does make the next bit of information more interesting.
The second bit of interesting information, came last night, from Metro Sports, a local sports network. Metro Sports was reporting that the Wizards would be playing their 2007 home games back at Arrowhead stadium, instead of temporary facility. As I had stated in my blog earlier, Arrowhead is still a viable option due to the type of renovations that will be occurring in 2007 at Arrowhead. The Wizards would though still have to find a home for 2008, and that coudl still be any of the sites I listed, or 2 more that Metro Sports listed that I had never even heard about being in the running, William Chrisman High School and Truman High School, both in Independence.
Finally today, to try and put some of the rumors to rest, this message was posted on bigsoccer, from Robb Heineman, the Wizards President. This is good news for Wizards fans, as it will finally bring to a close to the situation, although many Wizards fans are rightfully cautionous and won't believe it "until they get their tickets."
One last thing I wanted to touch on from the Metro Sports article, was the second to last paragraph in the article I linked above. Apparently the Wizards are interested in the Bannister Mall site in South KC. As rumors around KC have swirled on some other forums and outlets around KC as well about the possiblity of the Bannister site. Another one. A Third. This is a topic that will continue to be looked at and speculated on. Personally, I'm not sure what to think of the idea. It's a good location for a stadium, but my worry is the stigma, assumptions, or predeterminations that people have about the area, particularly Johnson County residents (people the Wizards try to get to attend games). The assumption is that the area is high crime and a "ghetto." This worries me in that it will likely keep people from wanting to attend the games.
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