Kansas City Urban Youth Academy and Parade Park Improvements
Kansas City, Mo.
Award of Merit

Owner: Kansas City Royals Baseball Club
Lead Design Firm: Populous
General Contractor: JE Dunn Construction
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Civil Engineer: Taliaferro and Browne
MEP Engineer: Henderson Engineers
Interior Designer: Wellner Architect

To attract young people from age 6 to 18 to baseball, the Kansas City Royals’ new  130,000-sq-ft academy offers support, training, development and mentorship in an indoor training facility that has three baseball fields and a softball field. A partnership developed between the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City supports the area’s Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities (RBI) program and youth baseball initiatives. This project also enhanced Parade Park for neighbors.

Academy and park improvements were built by general contractor JE Dunn Construction in two phases.

Phase 1 included three baseball fields, one softball field, a walking trail, relocated basketball courts, relocated and renovated tennis courts and a relocated playground near the community center.

Phase 2 included the indoor training facility with a turf infield, batting cages, pitching mounds, restrooms and concession facilities for the diamonds, a great lawn that serves as a front yard and shared event space for the academy and additional parking.

LED light fixtures on all four fields conserve energy and limit light spill outside the site. Synthetic turf with a flat-drain system below retains approximately 100,000 cu ft of water and dissipates it into the city’s system.

The team also had to determine that an existing storm brick structure to the west of the facility was structurally sound.