Hallmark designed the Kansas City Royals' crown that adorns the scoreboard at Kauffman Stadium in Kanas City, Missouri. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In a feel-good story befitting a Hallmark card, the Kansas City Royals and Hallmark paired up to announce plans for a downtown Kansas City ballpark for the Royals surrounded by the 85-acre Crown Center. The mixed-use development will include a reimagined headquarters for Hallmark and the new stadium, all part of a $2 billion project, which the team calls the largest private infrastructure project in the city’s history.

“Our founder Ewing Kauffman wanted the Royals to be Kansas City’s forever, and he wanted the team to benefit his hometown as much as possible,” says John Sherman, Royals CEO and chairman. ”Joining Hallmark with this project achieves both and extends the Hall family’s critical legacy of helping Kansas City grow.”

Don Hall Jr., Hallmark Cards executive chairman of the board of directors, says “the iconic Royals crown that Hallmark created will return to the very neighborhood where it was conceived. Every time a fan walks through the stadium doors, they’ll be standing in a place shaped by Kansas City and Hallmark’s creative series.”

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Crown Center is already a popular shopping destination in Kansas City near museums and other attractions. The Truman Sports Complex and Kauffman Stadium sit over seven miles east of the downtown site. The development surrounding a park-like central square with fountains—a key Kansas City trademark—will be unlike any other professional sports project in the world, the Royals promise.

The project will come funded by the Royals and other private investors, supplemented by public funding from the City of Kansas City and Missouri’s Show-Me Sports Investment Act. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe praised the announcement that keeps the Royals in the state. “This decision by the Royals to invest in our state is more than just a commitment to Kansas City, it is a commitment to communities and fans across Missouri,” he says.

The move into downtown offers a contrast for the Royals from their current Kauffman Stadium next door to Arrowhead Stadium. The Royals say the site enhances previous investments, including the Streetcar, and allows for ample parking within a 10-miute walk. The move also pushes the Royals from the bottom into the top 10 in walkability rankings among MLB teams.

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The shift into downtown and Crown Center deviates from the last few years of new stadium discussions led by the Royals as the team searched for a new home to replace the 53-year-old Kauffman Stadium. Multiple locations have surfaced, including two sites in Missouri—one in Jackson County at an East Village site near downtown and the other north of the Missouri River in Clay County—and also locations across the state line in Kansas. Crown Center is the most central to Kansas City of any publicly discussed.

Quinton Lucas, Kansas City mayor, says the new project allows Crown Center to produce lasting memories. “The public-private partnership between Hallmark, the Royals, Kansas City and our state,” he says, “ensures we connect our neighborhoods, keeps our downtown vibrant and maintains big league baseball in our city for generations to come.”