‘I’ll fight for it’: Business owners in Crossroads vow to save livelihoods amid Royals’ stadium plans – KCTV 5

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Plenty of people aren’t sure the Royals have picked the right spot to make the move to the Crossroads District because the team will have to buy and demolish a handful of buildings that are currently occupied by local businesses.
As KCTV walked up and down Oak Street in the heart of where the new stadium would go up, the building models released by the Royals show a plan that would require several storefronts to be torn down. And behind every door is someone’s career they worked so hard to build up and aren’t ready to give up.
Mat Adkins had to fight back tears at the thought of losing his bar and liquor store, the Pairing Crossroads Wine and Grocer. 
“A yes vote puts this neighborhood out of business as we know it now,” Adkins argued. “I speak for most people in the neighborhood when I say as you go to vote, look at both sides.”
On the same block, the Head for The Cure Foundation sits right where the Ballpark’s new hotel would be. CEO Matt Anthony has been a longtime season ticket holder for the Royals but knew nothing about their plans.  
“For more than 50 years and we still have not been notified that they’re trying to disrupt this business,” Anthony worried. “That’s a non-profit that serves to save people’s lives from brain cancer. So, it’s been a rough day.”
“I think Mr. Kauffman is rolling over in his grave,” Head for The Cure Foundation Accountant Freda Schroeder added. “Because it was very important to him to have a stadium that the whole city could enjoy and he would never had made these kind of major changes without any input.”
If the Royals do move in, those who work in the Crossroads say they want their questions answered.
“Are they going to do eminent domain and make people move because they have choose to and have enough money?” Maggie Arnone, a salesclerk at KC KUSH wondered. “Or are they going to pay people what their property is worth and give them a space to go to in enough timeframe to do it?”
But some, like local artist like Jason Harrington, have high hopes a new stadium in the long run will draw more attention to the Crossroads by connecting it to downtown and allow artists to display their work at the ballpark.
”If you don’t have to drive or worry about other stuff and have fun you’re more likely to walk down the street and attend the game,” Harrington said. “There’s a lot of housing around here and I think it will really impact people who attend games.”
During this announcement, the Royals said they’re working with about 20 property owners and committed to being a good neighbor. The Crossroads Community Association tells KCTV they plan to hold meetings sometime next week before moving forward with the Royals.
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