| CITY OVERVIEW
Stay in Kansas City
|
Kansas
City is a city steeped in sporting history and a visit to one of the
largest
sporting complexes in the country is worth the effort. It
is actually a City that belongs to two states - Kansas City, Kansas, is
situated just across the Missouri river from Kansas City, Missouri. The main
downtown area and much of the suburban area of Kansas City is in Missouri
and therefore contains much of what has to offer - although the Kansas
side has many fine urban and historical attractions of its own (Old
Shawnee Town, the Wells Fargo express office, the first Territorial Jail,
and other buildings). The
downtown of Kansas City used to be a relatively depressed,
unexciting place to visit. For many years, most of Kansas City’s
attractions were all located in suburban Kansas City. However, recent
history has been kind to the downtown area, with several projects giving
people more reason to travel back there. The
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is now rated as one of the nation's top art
museums. Within the museum are the Kansas City Sculpture Park and the
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Another extensive museum
complex also exists at 18th and Vine Streets and houses the Kansas City
Jazz Museum, which includes The Blue Room, a jazz club featuring video
clips of early jazz legends; the renovated Gem Theater; and the Negro
Leagues Baseball Museum. The
City's jazz tradition also lives on at the Mutual Musician's Foundation,
also located in the 18th and Vine district, where visitors can hear jam
sessions several times a week. Other
downtown attractions include Westport, a renovated historical district
that includes Kelly's Westport Inn (the city's oldest building) and the
Historic City Market, which has touristy gift shops, restaurants,
galleries and the Arabia Steamboat Museum and in March through October,
the largest open-air farmer's market in Missouri. Kansas
City still maintains a number of suburban centres worth visiting,
including the Crown Center, a city-within-a-city developed around the
international headquarters of Hallmark Cards. There is also the Country
Club Plaza is a 20-block area known for its Spanish Moorish architecture,
fountains, statues, annual holiday lights display, and more than 200
specialty shops, theatres, and restaurants. |
| GETTING THERE
Fly to Kansas City Within USA
|
Mid-Continent
International Airport (also known as Kansas City International Airport) is
located just on 30km northwest of the downtown area. The best way to get
to and from downtown is on one of the many shuttle services that operate. The
Amtrak service is actually not located downtown but several kilometres
away at 2200 Main Street. The Metro easily connects people back into the
downtown area, however. The Greyhound Station is located downtown at 1101
Troost Avenue. Kansas
City is a large city geographically but the Metro bus service tries to
serve as much of the metropolitan area as it can. Open-air tourist
trolleys provide transportation from downtown to nearby attractions and
shops and operates from March to December. |
| NFL
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS |
The
NFL’s Kansas
City Chiefs were originally the
Houston Texans before they moved to Kansas City in 1963. There the team
was renamed the Chiefs and continued to enjoy the great success the Texans
had experienced. The Chiefs won the League championship in 1966 and won
the right to represent the AFL in the first Super Bowl where they lost to
the Green Bay Packers. Since
joining the NFL in 1970, the Chiefs haven't been as successful. They won
the AFC Western Division championship in 1971 but the Chiefs didn't make
the playoffs again until 1986. Although regular playoff contenders since,
the Chiefs have not had a major success since their time in the old AFL. |
| MLB
KANSAS CITY ROYALS |
The MLB’s Kansas City Royals first began life in the majors in 1969. In this time, they have won 1 World Series in 1985, 2 Pennants and made 7 playoff appearances. The mid 70’s to the mid 80’s were the Royals glory years, culminating in the World Series win. However, it has been as if they left it at that as they have not made the playoffs since. In fact, they had not posted a plus .500 season in the last 10 years until 2003, making them one of the least successful teams in the American League. |
| MLS
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS |
The
MLS Kansas
City Wizards are one of the
charter members of the MSL. However, they were having little success until
out of nowhere they won the title in 2000. They have then made the
playoffs every year since, thereby making them one of the top performing
teams in the League. |
| ARROWHEAD STADIUM |
Arrowhead Stadium hosts the Chiefs and the Wizards and is located in suburban Kansas City at 1 Arrowhead Drive, Kansas City, some 10km southeast from downtown. Opened in 1972, the Stadium has a capacity of 79,000 (and 20,000 for the Wizards). Unlike many older stadiums, Arrowhead Stadium is still rated one of the best stadium facilities in the Country. The Chiefs are also the proud owners of one of the best home ground records in the NFL, and sell-outs have been the norm since the 1990’s. Arrowhead Stadium and its next-door neighbour Kauffman Baseball Stadium were the first in the country to be co-located in the one complex, called Truman Sports Complex. However, the Stadium is quite hard to get to by public transit. The best way to get to the Stadium is to take the Chiefs Express from downtown or the Crown Centre direct to the Stadium. |
| KAUFFMAN STADIUM |
Kauffman Stadium, formerly Royal Stadium, hosts the Royals and is located next to Arrowhead Stadium in the Truman Sports Complex. Opened in 1973, the Stadium has a capacity of 40,500. The Stadium is considered one of the most fan-friendly in the US. It also boasts the largest water works facilities at a MLB stadium, providing large amounts of sprouted water cascades between innings. However, unlike a big-hitters paradise such as Coors Field in Denver, scoring can be low here as the regular hitting alleys, as they are called in baseball, are very deep. Similar to getting to Arrowhead, the best way to get to the Stadium is the Royals Express from downtown or the Crown Centre. |
| GOLF
Mid May – Champions Tour Bayer Advantage International, National Golf Club of Kansas City, Kansas City. Ticket and Event information from www.pgatour.com |
The National Golf Club of Kansas City is located some 25km north-west of downtown Kansas City in the suburb of Parkdale. The KCATA bus service does not service this part of the metro area very well - especially on weekends. The best bet, especially on weekends, might be to take a cab from downtown or from the Airport, which is some 8km north of the course (catch any of the bus shuttles between there and downtown). |
| MOTOR
RACING
Early July - INDY Racing League Kansas City 200, Kansas Speedway, 1501 North 110th Street, Kansas City. Ticket information through Indy Racing League Early October - Nascar Winston Cup Protection One 400, Kansas Speedway |
Kansas Speedway is located at 400 Speedway Boulevard Kansas City, at the intersection of Highway 70 and Highway 435, which is about 25km west of downtown in the state of Kansas. There is not much hope of getting here by public transit – a hire car might be your best bet. |
| NCAA
SPORTS - DIVISION 1
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI KANSAS CITY |
The UMKC Kangaroos are located at 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, some 10km south of downtown Kansas City. The Kangaroos have teams in several sports, including men’s and women’s basketball. The basketball teams generally play at the Municipal Auditorium in the Convention Centre precinct in downtown Kansas City at 301 W 13th Street. The Auditorium has a capacity of about 9,000. Most Metro bus services descend on downtown. Bigger games, including playoff games, are played at Kemper Arena, just to the west of downtown Kansas City. Kemper Arena, with a capacity of 20,000, is located in the American Royal Centre across the border in Kansas at 1800 Genesee Street, about 4km west downtown. To get to the Arena, you can catch the Metro Bus Route 102 to Central Av and 7th and either walk up 7th to Genesee or catch the 107 bus up to Genesee. |
