Post by lazarus on Nov 16, 2005 15:12:28 GMT -5
If Chiefs get rolling roof, KC gets Super Bowl
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
The National Football League today awarded Kansas City a Super Bowl during a 10-year period, contingent on the Chiefs getting a rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex as part of a renovated and expanded Arrowhead Stadium.
The most likely dates would be Super Bowl IL in 2014 or Super Bowl LI in 2016.
The Chiefs and Royals are negotiating improvements for Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadium with Jackson County. The two teams had been seeking about $465 million in public money for their stadiums, and a referendum, likely for three-eighths of a cent sales tax increase for at least 25 years, would fund most of the work.
Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said the roof could raise the total of the project by anywhere from $100 to $200 million. If Jackson County voters approve the refurbishments, the clubs would agree to new leases, at least for 25 years through 2031.
“The decision was clearly in recognition of the tremendous support the Kansas City Chiefs have from their fans in this area and also the role of Lamar Hunt in creating the NFL today and the history of professional football,” NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said at a news conference at the conclusion of the league’s fall meetings at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.
Hunt, the founder of the American Football League and the Chiefs and a driving force in creating the merger with the NFL in 1966, was elated with the decision.
“This is a very happy day and in some respects a surprising day because this is an issue that we as an organization have talked about for a number of years, the concept of bidding for and requesting a Super Bowl,” Hunt said “We felt climate control was very important, and the thing we heard over and over was the public and many members of the media would like to revisit the idea of a rolling roof, which was originally designed for the complex (in 1967). Now that we’re into the 21st century, we had to get into the weather protection aspect because the original rolling roof (between Arrowhead and Royals Stadium) did not have weather protection. It had rain protection, but it did not have temperature protection that would be part of this process.”
There have been two other Super Bowls played in cold-weather cities — in 1982 at Pontiac, Mich.; in 1992 at Minneapolis; and the upcoming Super Bowl XL in Detroit.
The Chiefs are also confident an enclosed Arrowhead Stadium would attract Final Fours and other NCAA events as well as ensure Big 12 Championship football games
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
The National Football League today awarded Kansas City a Super Bowl during a 10-year period, contingent on the Chiefs getting a rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex as part of a renovated and expanded Arrowhead Stadium.
The most likely dates would be Super Bowl IL in 2014 or Super Bowl LI in 2016.
The Chiefs and Royals are negotiating improvements for Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadium with Jackson County. The two teams had been seeking about $465 million in public money for their stadiums, and a referendum, likely for three-eighths of a cent sales tax increase for at least 25 years, would fund most of the work.
Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said the roof could raise the total of the project by anywhere from $100 to $200 million. If Jackson County voters approve the refurbishments, the clubs would agree to new leases, at least for 25 years through 2031.
“The decision was clearly in recognition of the tremendous support the Kansas City Chiefs have from their fans in this area and also the role of Lamar Hunt in creating the NFL today and the history of professional football,” NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said at a news conference at the conclusion of the league’s fall meetings at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.
Hunt, the founder of the American Football League and the Chiefs and a driving force in creating the merger with the NFL in 1966, was elated with the decision.
“This is a very happy day and in some respects a surprising day because this is an issue that we as an organization have talked about for a number of years, the concept of bidding for and requesting a Super Bowl,” Hunt said “We felt climate control was very important, and the thing we heard over and over was the public and many members of the media would like to revisit the idea of a rolling roof, which was originally designed for the complex (in 1967). Now that we’re into the 21st century, we had to get into the weather protection aspect because the original rolling roof (between Arrowhead and Royals Stadium) did not have weather protection. It had rain protection, but it did not have temperature protection that would be part of this process.”
There have been two other Super Bowls played in cold-weather cities — in 1982 at Pontiac, Mich.; in 1992 at Minneapolis; and the upcoming Super Bowl XL in Detroit.
The Chiefs are also confident an enclosed Arrowhead Stadium would attract Final Fours and other NCAA events as well as ensure Big 12 Championship football games
