LaChapelle
06-10-2010, 11:47 AM
-St Joseph and Dorsey share a moment
St. Joseph prepares for spotlight of Chiefs’ training camp
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
Chiefs training camp will be held in St. Joseph this summer, and officials say the site should be completed by July 20.
Chiefs president Denny Thum stood on a platform overlooking Spratt Stadium, one of the best views on the Missouri Western campus to watch a big idea come to life.
While Thum stood and talked, this day’s work progressed: men in hard hats working on the roof of the “Big Barn,” the campus’ sprawling new indoor football facility. Bulldozers leveling dirt in the distance, two goal posts on opposite ends acting as the only hints this chunk of land will soon be the Chiefs’ two training-camp practice fields. A dump truck delivering more top dressing to the site, and masonry workers laughing as they stacked bricks on what will be restrooms and a concession stand.
Thum soaked it in: the final stages of a $13 million project that will be the Chiefs’ summer home for at least five years.
“I’ll feel a lot better when they have the bleachers out there,” Thum said with a smile. “Then it’ll look like training camp.”
An idea that began years ago is approaching completion. Before, bringing the Chiefs’ training camp back to Missouri — the team trained in River Falls, Wis., for the last 19 summers — was an ambition. Now it’s reality, or something close to it. And that means that, although one massive project is almost finished, another one is about to begin: Missouri Western and St. Joseph will be front and center for more than three weeks starting next month, and that’s a lot of pressure for a school and a town unaccustomed to such attention and such a high number of visitors.
“There will definitely be a learning curve this year,” said Kristi Rasmussen, the communications director for the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce. “Whatever happens this year, we’ll definitely learn a lot from it. Hopefully everything runs smoothly.”
With all the good that locals say they’re expecting — increased tourism, fresh dollars flowing into a struggling town, and regional and perhaps national attention — there comes with it accompanying stress and plenty of unknowns. Upward of 10,000 visitors are expected on some days of camp, and that leads to questions about parking, space and readiness as the project’s completion date approaches. About 3,500 parking spots will be available during Chiefs camp. About half of those will be in pay lots, $10 per car.
Across town, restaurants and hotels are preparing for all those people. One restaurant, the Tap Room Bar and Grill, added seating to its patio and relined the spots in its parking lot to maximize capacity, co-owner Bob Bledsoe said. It also added televisions to its dining room and has Chiefs’ banners and players’ jerseys on display.
But despite the preparations, Bledsoe said he’s still uncertain how reality will match expectations. Has the restaurant done enough? Too much? Bledsoe said it’s an exciting time, but it’s also nerve-racking.
“We don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I just tell our employees that we need to be ready. We assume that we’re going to be busy from 10 o’clock in the morning to 1:30 at night. But no one knows for sure.”
If town officials and business owners are eager to test their readiness and ability to accommodate thousands of new patrons, some locals aren’t so enthusiastic about the idea that, for nearly a month, St. Joseph won’t be such a quiet town. Some aren’t keen on restaurants being packed each night or the traffic that is expected around campus and on Belt Highway, one of the town’s main drags. Others weren’t crazy about the Griffon Indoor Complex, which some within the Chiefs organization jokingly call the “Big Barn” because of its size and resemblance to a barn, being built alongside Interstate 29.
But Rasmussen said those concerns have quieted as the summer begins and early construction projects begin to resemble a finished product. Interim athletic director Dan Nicoson said Crossland Construction has guaranteed all work will be finished by July 20.
For now, finishing touches are being made, and those who are invested in the project remain hopeful that the completed project will be what, years ago, so many envisioned it could be.
“The people up in St. Joe, they understand this is a big deal,” Thum said. “The economy up there has had a tough time.”
On a warm day near Missouri Western’s football stadium, Drew Grable, 24, loaded bricks on a platform and mixed mortar as others built part of the school’s and St. Joseph’s future.
“This ain’t the easiest job,” said Grable, a laborer from nearby Clarksdale.
Grable said he’s a lifelong Chiefs fan, and his father used to be a season-ticket holder before he died. Grable already has begun thinking about how he’ll introduce his own son, who’s due to be born in September, to the Chiefs and explain how Dad got his hands dirty on a project that so many expectations once rested on.
“To be around, to say you were a part of that, that’s pretty cool,” Grable said. “I think it’s pretty good for St. Joe. I think it’ll do something for us.”
Posted on Wed, Jun. 09, 2010 10:55 PM
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/09/2005500/st-joseph-prepares-for-spotlight.html#ixzz0qTNsHd5a
St. Joseph prepares for spotlight of Chiefs’ training camp
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
Chiefs training camp will be held in St. Joseph this summer, and officials say the site should be completed by July 20.
Chiefs president Denny Thum stood on a platform overlooking Spratt Stadium, one of the best views on the Missouri Western campus to watch a big idea come to life.
While Thum stood and talked, this day’s work progressed: men in hard hats working on the roof of the “Big Barn,” the campus’ sprawling new indoor football facility. Bulldozers leveling dirt in the distance, two goal posts on opposite ends acting as the only hints this chunk of land will soon be the Chiefs’ two training-camp practice fields. A dump truck delivering more top dressing to the site, and masonry workers laughing as they stacked bricks on what will be restrooms and a concession stand.
Thum soaked it in: the final stages of a $13 million project that will be the Chiefs’ summer home for at least five years.
“I’ll feel a lot better when they have the bleachers out there,” Thum said with a smile. “Then it’ll look like training camp.”
An idea that began years ago is approaching completion. Before, bringing the Chiefs’ training camp back to Missouri — the team trained in River Falls, Wis., for the last 19 summers — was an ambition. Now it’s reality, or something close to it. And that means that, although one massive project is almost finished, another one is about to begin: Missouri Western and St. Joseph will be front and center for more than three weeks starting next month, and that’s a lot of pressure for a school and a town unaccustomed to such attention and such a high number of visitors.
“There will definitely be a learning curve this year,” said Kristi Rasmussen, the communications director for the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce. “Whatever happens this year, we’ll definitely learn a lot from it. Hopefully everything runs smoothly.”
With all the good that locals say they’re expecting — increased tourism, fresh dollars flowing into a struggling town, and regional and perhaps national attention — there comes with it accompanying stress and plenty of unknowns. Upward of 10,000 visitors are expected on some days of camp, and that leads to questions about parking, space and readiness as the project’s completion date approaches. About 3,500 parking spots will be available during Chiefs camp. About half of those will be in pay lots, $10 per car.
Across town, restaurants and hotels are preparing for all those people. One restaurant, the Tap Room Bar and Grill, added seating to its patio and relined the spots in its parking lot to maximize capacity, co-owner Bob Bledsoe said. It also added televisions to its dining room and has Chiefs’ banners and players’ jerseys on display.
But despite the preparations, Bledsoe said he’s still uncertain how reality will match expectations. Has the restaurant done enough? Too much? Bledsoe said it’s an exciting time, but it’s also nerve-racking.
“We don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I just tell our employees that we need to be ready. We assume that we’re going to be busy from 10 o’clock in the morning to 1:30 at night. But no one knows for sure.”
If town officials and business owners are eager to test their readiness and ability to accommodate thousands of new patrons, some locals aren’t so enthusiastic about the idea that, for nearly a month, St. Joseph won’t be such a quiet town. Some aren’t keen on restaurants being packed each night or the traffic that is expected around campus and on Belt Highway, one of the town’s main drags. Others weren’t crazy about the Griffon Indoor Complex, which some within the Chiefs organization jokingly call the “Big Barn” because of its size and resemblance to a barn, being built alongside Interstate 29.
But Rasmussen said those concerns have quieted as the summer begins and early construction projects begin to resemble a finished product. Interim athletic director Dan Nicoson said Crossland Construction has guaranteed all work will be finished by July 20.
For now, finishing touches are being made, and those who are invested in the project remain hopeful that the completed project will be what, years ago, so many envisioned it could be.
“The people up in St. Joe, they understand this is a big deal,” Thum said. “The economy up there has had a tough time.”
On a warm day near Missouri Western’s football stadium, Drew Grable, 24, loaded bricks on a platform and mixed mortar as others built part of the school’s and St. Joseph’s future.
“This ain’t the easiest job,” said Grable, a laborer from nearby Clarksdale.
Grable said he’s a lifelong Chiefs fan, and his father used to be a season-ticket holder before he died. Grable already has begun thinking about how he’ll introduce his own son, who’s due to be born in September, to the Chiefs and explain how Dad got his hands dirty on a project that so many expectations once rested on.
“To be around, to say you were a part of that, that’s pretty cool,” Grable said. “I think it’s pretty good for St. Joe. I think it’ll do something for us.”
Posted on Wed, Jun. 09, 2010 10:55 PM
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/09/2005500/st-joseph-prepares-for-spotlight.html#ixzz0qTNsHd5a