The city needed to pick one location
By NewsPress Now
The city of St. Joseph made a significant move in narrowing the potential sites for a future multi-sports complex to Missouri Western State University.
There were plenty of good reasons to pursue the proposed sports complex at the East Hills Shopping Center, mostly due to site access, available utilities and the opportunity to redevelop property that’s fast becoming one of those dead malls you find on Facebook pages. The city could have built a campaign around the revival of a major intersection that currently gives a strong impression of a community in decline.
But would voters have been less likely to support a financing package that’s seen as using public tax dollars to benefit the mall’s owner?
For your answer, just look at voter rejection of stadium improvements in Kansas City. The stadium issue was doomed once the debate revolved around the wealth of John Sherman and Clark Hunt. Apparently, the resentment runs so high that people would rather see the Chiefs in Kansas and the Royals in Nashville.
With this backdrop, surely some at City Hall started to get nervous about an association between a bond proposal and mall owner Steven Craig. That might be unfair – no one seemed to complain when Craig invested significant funds in the mall and other local ventures – but you could just see the last-minute mailing during a future sports complex bond campaign. It almost writes itself.
For the city, the wisdom of dropping the mall had less to do with Craig and more to do with trying to build and manage a complex that was located at two sites – Missouri Western and the mall. This seemed like an odd and confusing idea, even if the city claimed it could save money at two locations.
If the city sees the university as a more viable site, then it should make a total rather than a halfhearted commitment.
In St. Joseph, the amount of available land at Missouri Western is a long-term asset that should be tapped. Many universities, including the University of Kansas, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, have pursued mixed-use developments that combine dining, retail, commercial space or entertainment with traditional college buildings or amenities.
Missouri Western already has pursued some developments – the indoor sports complex and the Convergent Technology Alliance Center – that reverberate beyond the university’s boundaries. If a proposed sports complex brings a similar impact, then both the city and Missouri Western will benefit.
None of this means voter approval is a slam dunk in 2025 when the city might pitch an ambitious general obligation bond issue for a youth sports facility. But a move to drop the mall probably gives the city a fighting chance.
