Foutch abandons Kemper proposal; American Royal plan wins support

It looks like Kemper Arena will be coming down.

Foutch Brothers LLC announced Wednesday during a Kansas City Council committee meeting that it no longer would pursue its $22 million plan to save the 40-year-old arena by repurposing it as a youth and amateur sports facility.

Councilman Ed Ford read a letter from the developer at the the start of Wednesday's meeting of the Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee, which has been vetting two dueling proposals for the West Bottoms arena site. The Foutch letter gave no reason for dropping the proposal.

Minutes later, the PZED Committee asked city staff to draft a resolution supporting the American Royal Association's $60 million plan to raze Kemper, replace it with a smaller events center and pavilion and make improvements to other facilities in the American Royal Complex.

The committee asked that the resolution, to be introduced to the full City Council on Thursday, call for the city to make a $20 million contribution toward the American Royal plan plus $1 million in annual operating subsidies through 2039. Under its proposal, the American Royal would take over ownership of the city-owned American Royal Complex, which would end the city's liability for operating subsidies that have reached $1.6 million a year.

Foutch Brothers principal Steve Foutch, whose firm specializes in historic renovation projects, publicly announced his proposal to repurpose seldom-used Kemper Arena in February, after the American Royal's plan had sat dormant since 2011.

After city officials indicated that they liked Foutch's plan because it would satisfy demand for youth sports facilities and drive more traffic to West Bottoms businesses, the American Royal responded by partnering with the owners of Sporting Kansas City, which has offered to help provide youth sports programming in the American Royal complex.

Rob reports on real estate and development.