THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014
PAGE 3
+
POLITICS
This Friday, Feb. 21, 2014 photograph shows the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and The Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. After a $6 billion downtown makeover, the city is pushing to become the destination for the 2016 Republican convention.
Kansas City pushes aggressively for GOP convention
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nearly 40 years have passed since the national political spotlight last shone on this city, when Ronald Reagan tried unsuccessfully to oust President Gerald Ford at a contested Republican National Convention.
yet Kansas City now is making an aggressive push to host the Olympics of politics — the 2016 Republican National Convention — against a field of competitors that includes the tourist destinations of Las Vegas and New Orleans, the southern hotspots of Dallas and Phoenix and other cities such as Denver with more recent political conventions on their resumes.
What Kansas City lacks in glitz, it's trying to make up for
with heart.
"We are a city that really wants this convention," said Troy Stremming, a local casino executive who is co-chairman of the Kansas City RNC 2016 Task Force. "It's not just another convention of 50,000 participants in the city of Las Vegas, it would be THE convention for Kansas City and this region."
attendees flew in to the new Kansas City International Airport. Today, Kemper Arena is a seldom-used shell targeted for potential demolition and
+
A delegation from Kansas City plans to personally deliver the city's bid documents Wednesday to Republican headquarters in Washington
the list to several finalists for onsite visits later this year. But the winner might not be chosen until early 2015, said Sharon Day, co-chairwoman
"We are a city that really wants this convention. It's not just another convention, ... it would be THE convention for Kansas City and this region."
TROY STREMMING Co-chairman of the Kansas City RNC 2016 Task Force
quarters in Washington — capping a campaign that began nearly a year ago when it put on a party for the Republican National Committee. Representatives from the aspiring host cities are to make formal presentations March 3 to Republican officials. A committee then will narrow
of the Republican National Committee.
At this point, "there is no front-runner," she said. When Kansas City last hosted the Republican National Convention in 1976, the event was held in the newly opened Kemper Arena on the banks of the Missouri River, and
city officials are bemoaning the need for a new, modern airport.
Yet downtown Kansas City has recently undergone a $6 billion renovation anchored by the new Sprint Center arena, which sold more tickets to live entertainment events last year than its counterparts
in Dallas, Phoenix, Denver or Las Vegas. The arena sits across from a new restaurant and bar district, near a renovated luxury hotel and a short walk from a massive convention center that spans eight city blocks. That whole downtown area is plugged into a newly upgraded grid for telecommunications, power, water and sewer.
An interstate highway passes right by the Sprint Center and convention hall. Although Kansas City currently lacks a commuter train, officials insist that a finely orchestrated network of chartered buses can get everyone to the convention in about 30 minutes from hotels on either side of the Missouri-Kansas border. Being located in the center of the country means attendees from both the east and west
coasts can fly to Kansas City within three hours.
within three hours.
Political considerations, such as the region's Republican bona fides or battleground status, aren't part of the discussion. Day said. But the city's logistics are a key part to selecting a convention site.
"We look at every hotel, every venue, the wiring, the security — you basically tear the city apart to make sure that they can really deliver the best possible opportunity for our presidential candidate," said Day, who was on the 2008 site selection committee that chose St. Paul, Minn.
About 200 people attended a fundraiser last week as part of Kansas City's commitment to raising the millions of dollars necessary to help sponsor the Republican convention.
BECAUSE THIS ISN'T WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND WHEN YOU SAID...
RockChalkLiving.com
"HARDWORKER" ON YOUR RESUME
@RockChalkLiving
/RockChalkLiving
SEARCH DON'T SETTLE STUDENT'S PREMIERE HOUSING SITE
+