Sports and entertainment facility located in Kansas City, Missouri
The
Truman Sports Complex
is a sports and entertainment facility in
Kansas City, Missouri
. It hosts two major league sports venues:
Arrowhead Stadium
, hosting the
National Football League
's
Kansas City Chiefs
, and
Kauffman Stadium
, hosting
Major League Baseball
's
Kansas City Royals
. The complex also hosts various other events during the rest of the year.
Overview
[
edit
]
The Truman Sports Complex was built and owned by the government of
Jackson County
and managed by the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, which is a State of Missouri agency.
[1]
The current complex design, made by
Charles Deaton
, was arrived at when Deaton caught the ear of Kansas City Chiefs General Manager
Jack Steadman
and suggested building side-by-side stadiums for the two sports with each stadium customized to its needs.
[2]
The original plan called for separate side-by-side stadiums
[3]
with a mutual rolling roof. However, the roof was never built due to cost.
[2]
The complex was revolutionary in an age when new stadiums tended to be built as
multiuse venues
for planning and cost purposes.
The design not only made Deaton's reputation, but also made that of the architects that implemented his plans,
Kivett and Myers
. In 1975, the firm merged with Kansas City architect firm
HNTB
and went on to design stadiums like
Giants Stadium
, the
RCA Dome
,
Broncos Stadium at Mile High
, and
Ralph Wilson Stadium
. In 1983, several HNTB architects were hired by
St. Louis
-based architectural firm
Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
, forming what would later become
Populous
and opening their primary office in Kansas City.
The construction of the complex was undertaken by the joint venture of the Sharp, Kidde, and
Webb
construction firms.
[4]
On October 27, 1985, the
Chiefs
hosted a Noon kickoff game at Arrowhead Stadium against the
Denver Broncos
in which Denver won, 30?10.
[5]
Later that night across the complex at Royals Stadium, the
Royals
won Game 7 of the
1985 World Series
(7:30pm first pitch) against the
St. Louis Cardinals
.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Kansas City began a project to renovate both Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums in 2007, following the passage of a
3
⁄
8
cent sales tax increase in a referendum in 2006. Improvements to Kauffman Stadium were finished in time for the MLB Opening Day in 2009,
[9]
and Arrowhead Stadium was completed in time for the NFL Opening Day in 2010. A separate tax referendum to raise funds to finally build the rolling roof failed. Both stadiums are being renovated by Populous.
[10]
[11]
With renovations, both the Royals and Chiefs have leases on the stadiums through January 31, 2031. Their previous lease which was renegotiated in 1990 had been set to expire January 31, 2015.
[12]
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
[
edit
]
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the
National Football League
's
Kansas City Chiefs
, opened in the fall of 1972.
George Halas
called Arrowhead "the most revolutionary, futuristic sports complex I have ever seen."
[2]
Fans occasionally refer to the stadium as "The Sea of Red" or simply just Arrowhead. The stadium is commonly referred to as the "Home of the CHIEFS" at the beginning of every home game.
[13]
[14]
Arrowhead has long held a reputation for being one of, if not the, loudest outdoor stadium in the NFL due to the exuberance of the Chiefs' fans.
[15]
In recent years, Arrowhead has competed with
Lumen Field
in
Seattle
for the loudest open-air stadium in the world, as certified by the
Guinness Book of World Records
. Kansas City briefly held the record when the crowd roar reached 137.5 decibels in a Chiefs victory over the
Oakland Raiders
on October 13, 2013; but Seattle's 12th Man broke the record only a few weeks later at 137.8 decibels.
[16]
Arrowhead reclaimed the title, however, on September 29, 2014, when noise levels reached 142.2 decibels as the Chiefs defeated the
New England Patriots
on
Monday Night Football
.
[17]
Kauffman Stadium
[
edit
]
Kauffman Stadium, home of
Major League Baseball
's
Kansas City Royals
, opened in early 1973 as Royals Stadium and is located adjacent to Arrowhead. The stadium's name was changed in 1993 to honor Royals founder
Ewing Kauffman
just months before his death. Even though the stadium is slightly older than 40 years old, it is the sixth-oldest stadium in MLB, as a result of the construction of a number of new stadiums in the 1990s. It was the only baseball-specific stadium completed from the early 1960s until the early 1990s. It is also one of eight stadiums in Major League Baseball that doesn't have a corporate-sponsored name (the others are
Yankee Stadium
,
Fenway Park
,
Wrigley Field
,
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
,
Dodger Stadium
,
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
, and
Nationals Park
).
In addition to that, the stadium was the last baseball-only park that was built in the majors (not counting temporary facilities) from 1966 to 1991 and one of the few baseball-only facilities built in the majors during the heyday of the
cookie-cutter stadium
era, as well as one of two such facilities (alongside
Dodger Stadium
) that are still active and were never converted for use as multi-purpose stadiums. Despite its status as a baseball-only park throughout its history, it is one of only two active MLB stadiums (the other being
Rogers Centre
) that features symmetrical outfield dimensions, commonly associated with multi-purpose stadiums.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Jackson County Sports Complex Authority"
.
MO.gov
. Retrieved
January 14,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
Karl Zinke,
Ahead of its time; Royal helped build first two-stadium facility
.
- ^
Suppes, BALLPARKS.com by Munsey and.
"Arrowhead Stadium"
.
football.ballparks.com
.
- ^
"Webb Spinner 1969-1970"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs - October 27th, 1985"
. Pro Football Reference
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
"Kansas City Royals 11, St. Louis Cardinals 0"
.
Retrosheet.org
. Retrieved
February 19,
2023
.
- ^
Durso, Joseph (October 28, 1985).
"Royal Rout a Bitter Ending For Cards"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
March 16,
2023
.
- ^
"1985 World Series: The wild and crazy complete story of the Kansas City Royals' unlikely win"
.
Fox Sports
. Retrieved
March 16,
2023
.
- ^
"Kauffman Stadium"
.
Kansas City Royals
.
- ^
"Kansas City Chiefs - Chiefs Unveil The New Arrowhead"
. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2007.
- ^
"Kauffman Stadium"
.
Kansas City Royals
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on July 26, 2011
. Retrieved
December 6,
2010
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
Welcome to Arrowhead - Volume 1
, youtube.com
- ^
Welcome to Arrowhead - Thanksgiving
, youtube.com
- ^
"Stadiums of the NFL-Arrowhead Stadium-Kansas City Chiefs"
. Archived from
the original
on December 16, 2008.
- ^
"Chiefs fans break noise record"
. October 13, 2013.
- ^
"Kansas City Chiefs fans reclaim record for loudest crowd roar at sports stadium"
.
Guinness World Records
. October 2, 2014.
Sources
[
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]
External links
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]
39°03′00″N
94°28′56″W
/
39.05000°N 94.48222°W
/
39.05000; -94.48222