Kemper Arena Future In Doubt

The Kansas City, Mo., arena has been mostly idle since Sprint Center opened. It’s inside the city’s American Royal Complex. American Royal, which hosts livestock exhibitions, professional rodeos and competitive BBQ events, wants to tear the arena down and replace it with a multipurpose building.

Developer Foutch Brothers reportedly dropped Kemper plans like a hot potato when it received a letter from American Royal’s attorney threatening a lawsuit if it pursued a historical designation for the venue, which would have helped financing for a renovation.

Foutch and American Royal have spent months pitching plans for the future of the arena. “We demand you cease your efforts with respect to the historic designation applications you filed over the city’s objection,” states the letter to Foutch’s lawyer, John Fairfield.

“While we have high confidence you will not be successful, those applications impair and impact property which my clients helped to finance and which we have under lease for the next several decades.” Foutch’s decision to drop out means Kansas City can now negotiate solely with American Royal, which has asked for $30 million toward its own $60 million plan to tear down Kemper and build a smaller structure.

The chairman of the city’s planning committee, after learning of Foutch’s withdrawal, recommended $20 million, according to the Kansas City Star.

Some city leaders believe the Foutch plan for a youth sports venue would bring more vitality to the area than American Royal, according to the paper. City records reportedly show American Royal sold fewer than 7,500 tickets to its events at the America Royal Complex in 2013, not counting the World Series of Barbecue.