By MATT PIKE
The Kansas City Chiefs have announced that Kansas City-based MANICA will be the lead design architect for the Chiefs new stadium and has released new renderings of the stadium to be built.
In addition, the Kansas City-based sports architecture firm HNTB has been selected as the architect of record for the project. CAA ICON is serving as owner’s representative on the stadium project, having led all elements of the RFQ, RFP, and lead design competition processes. The announcement from the Chiefs concludes a six-month lead design competition process between the two finalists.
“We’re proud to name MANICA as our lead design architect and HNTB as the architect of record for this transformational stadium undertaking which will come to life over the next five years,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan says in a news release from the team. “We are incredibly fortunate that Kansas City is home to world-class sports and entertainment design talent, and that has been on full display throughout this process."
"David (Manica) and the MANICA team stood out throughout a rigorous months-long process, honoring and embracing our history while presenting a bold and dynamic vision for the future. We look forward to working alongside both firms to refine these plans and deliver the premier sports and entertainment venue not only in the Midwest, but in the world.”
The $3 billion state-of-the-art stadium will be fully enclosed with a translucent ETFE roof and is expected to have a total capacity of approximately 70,000. The Chiefs, along with MANICA, has worked to incorporate, and improve upon, many of the club’s and fanbase’s beloved traditions. Parking lot infrastructure will be built specifically to enhance the tailgating experience. The stadium’s size, shape, and roof geometry have been studied by audio engineers to maximize crowd noise and help ensure that Chiefs fans can continue to provide an unrivaled homefield advantage.
The stadium’s seating bowl is reminiscent of Arrowhead Stadium. It will include a Drum Deck for pregame and in-game ceremonies, as well as the prominent placement of the Chiefs Ring of Honor above the bowl. The roof will also include more than 400,000 square feet of translucent panels directly above the playing surface, maximizing visibility for military flyovers. Outside the stadium, Chiefs fans will be able to visit the Lamar Hunt statue in a modern plaza, access a specially curated Chiefs Hall of Honor more than twice the size of its current space, and peruse an expanded Chiefs Team Store approximately four times larger than the current store.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to be entrusted with designing the next home of the Kansas City Chiefs in our hometown,” President and owner of MANICA David Manica says. “My entire team is committed to creating a stadium that honors the legacy, tradition, and unmatched energy of Arrowhead while boldly reimagining its future."
"This stadium is being designed not just for today's fans, but for the generations of Chiefs Kingdom to come – a place that reflects the passion, pride, and enduring strength of one of the greatest fan bases in all of sports.”
Based on the most recent economic impact figures released by the club, the fixed-roof stadium project in Wyandotte County, Kansas, along with the practice facility/team headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, and two private ancillary mixed-use development districts, is slated to deliver 36,500 full-time equivalent job-years and $8.2 billion in economic impact for the Kansas City region during the construction period. All of the projects combined are slated to support 8,500 full-time equivalent jobs and generate $1.5 billion in economic impact annually for the region once operational.
The project is being financed through a public-private partnership, with the public portion funded through Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bonds and the Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund. Both funding mechanisms were established specifically to ensure that there will be no new state taxes and no negative impact on the state budget. The remaining portion will be privately funded. The project also includes $1 billion in additional development in the State of Kansas.
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