UMKC hopes to build new on-campus arena for basketball, volleyball and other events

Blair Kerkhoff
·2 min read

UMKC has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a new on-campus sports and events arena, the school announced on Monday.

The KC Roos’ ambition is a 5,000-seat structure for the basketball and volleyball teams that would be constructed on five acres on the west side of campus near the intersection of 51st Street and Brookside Blvd. It would be a “campus and community destination with retail, housing and a small arena for events,” according to a news release.

“This RFP creates a tremendous opportunity for UMKC to create a new gateway for the campus to engage with the Kansas City community,” said UMKC vice-chancellor/athletic director Brandon Martin. “Athletics is a critical component of this project.”

A new arena would be developed next to south end of Kansas City’s streetcar extension, scheduled to be completed in 2025.

According to UMKC, the university would provide a ground lease to the developer and then would lease back the arena for sports and events. A shared operating agreement between UMKC and the developer will govern use of the facility.

UMKC has two plots of land between Brookside and Oak Street, vacant except for a parking garage. The school plans to integrate the parking structure into the new arena.

For the past five years, Swinney Center on campus has served as the Roos’ home. Opened in 1941, the building ranks among the smallest in college basketball — and the smallest in the Summit League — with a seating capacity of 1,500.

KC Roos freshman guard Jevin Sullivan attempts a jump shot against South Dakota State on Jan. 30, 2023.
KC Roos freshman guard Jevin Sullivan attempts a jump shot against South Dakota State on Jan. 30, 2023.

From 1987, when UMKC became a Division I program, until 2008, the Roos played most home games at Municipal Auditorium. Over the next several years, the Roos went back and forth between Swinney and Municipal, and occasionally played home games at Kemper Arena, Hale Arena and the Independence Events Center, now Cable Dahmer Arena.

A new arena is needed, Martin said, to upgrade the student athlete experience and for recruiting.

Price tags for arenas for Division I programs that have opened since 2020 or are scheduled to open this year include $40 million for the 3,000-seat Joan Perry Brock Center at Longwood University in Virginia; $51 million for the 3,500-seat Leo D. Mahoney Center for Fairfield University in Connecticut; and $130 million for 5,500-seat F&M Bank Arena at Austin Peay University in Tennessee.