Homefield unveils $60 million youth sports arena to KCK

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A $60 million youth sports facility is now open, the latest piece of a major redevelopment project underway in western Kansas City, Kansas.

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Developers first pitched Homefield Kansas City as a destination spot where locals and tourists could rally around youth sports. Roughly four years later, the KCK Showcase Center facility welcomed its first teams this month.

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On Tuesday, owners, investors and elected officials who supported the project walked through the space as the Showcase Center was showcased. Homefield President Dustin Lewis summarized the feeling of having it open with a word:

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“It’s joy,” Lewis said,

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“It’s a beautiful facility,” he added. “And it’s going to be packed with kids for years to come, doing something that’s really important to growth and development.”

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Housed within the 150,000 square-foot indoor sports arena are 10 basketball and 12 volleyball courts. High-definition cameras are suspended from the ceiling, allowing live-streams of games so families can watch from afar.

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An athletes-only food court on the main floor provides a place for youth competitors to relax and refuel. Offerings there include Gatorade, protein shakes and snack cups filled with hard-boiled eggs and cheese cubes.

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Upstairs is a space for families to cheer from. An upper deck surrounds the courts, offering viewing from behind plexiglass windows. There’s also a new restaurant — all food is made onsite — and a bar.

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Homefield was founded by part-owners of Sporting KC. The indoor youth sports arena, along with eight synthetic-turf baseball fields a few blocks away, represent a $100 million piece of $838 million redevelopment where the old Schlitterbahn Water Park used to sit.

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Other parts still to come include an under-construction Margaritaville Hotel and a golf entertainment venue.

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State and local incentives have helped pay for the project. Homefield has so far received $116 million in STAR bonds, short for sales tax revenue bonds, a program that redirects sales taxes to help offset the cost of major projects.

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Those state incentives are reserved for projects designed to attract tourists from outside Kansas. In addition, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, approved among its local incentives the creation of a Community Improvement District, tacking on an extra 2% sales tax for visitors.

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During a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon, part-owner Greg Maday said Kansas City is a place families will travel several hours by car for youth competitions.

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“Our simple objective here at Homefield is for kids to practice and play like professionals,” Maday said.

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Lt. Gov. David Toland boasted the new youth sports complex as one that will be the envy of visitors from around the nation.

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“This is the kind of facility that for years has drawn Kansans to other places, typically on the coasts,” Toland said. “But now that we have our own space that is better than what they’ve got, and it’s a magnet for new visitors and new spending into Kansas.”

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