The Royals maintain that they have “no intention of playing at Kauffman Stadium” after their lease expiresKirby Lee/USA TODAY NETWORK
Jackson County Exec Frank White Jr. and county legislature Chair Jeanie Lauer have asked the county sports complex authority to investigate an allegation that Kauffman Stadium has “concrete cancer,” according to Mike Hendricks of the K.C. STAR. White and Lauer, who opposed putting the stadium sales tax issue on the April 2 ballot because “many questions remained unanswered,” now want the sports complex authority to look into the claim, writing that “county voters deserve the information before casting their ballots.” The "concrete cancer" is caused when the steel reinforcing within a concrete slab begins to rust, and as the steel rusts, it expands and displaces the surrounding concrete -- causing it to become brittle and crack. Regardless of the concrete’s condition, the Royals maintain that they have “no intention of playing at Kauffman Stadium,” their home since its opening in 1973, after their lease expires. They have not said what they will do to meet their timetable of playing in a new ballpark by 2028, if the sales tax issue fails at the polls. "Concrete cancer" was a key issue the team raised more than a year ago in announcing the organization’s decision to pursue construction of a downtown ballpark. But the team is now “focusing more on the other explanation for its decision” to leave Kauffman Stadium -- that a downtown ballpark would “provide opportunities for commercial development around the stadium that were not feasible at the sports complex.” But because the "concrete cancer" issue keeps coming up, White and Lauer say in their letter that the public “needs to know whether Kauffman is in as bad shape as the team has said it is” (K.C. STAR, 3/4).
