KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A brand new leisure district in Bonner Springs is one step nearer to actuality. On Monday, Bonner Springs Metropolis Council designated an space as a STAR bond district, setting the stage for venture funding.
In keeping with Bonner Springs Financial Improvement Coordinator, Megan Gilliland, the leisure district would sit between Azura Ampitheater and Kansas Speedway, north of I-70.
The house is 180 acres, with a plan to construct a number of points of interest, together with waterfront eating places, retail shops, and the Mattel Journey Park.
In March 2024, Mattel and Epic Resort Locations introduced their plan to interrupt floor on the second Mattel Adventure Park later this yr. The “all-new leisure resort vacation spot” will probably be in Bonner Springs, Kan., and is ready to open in 2026.
In keeping with the Kansas Division of Commerce, Gross sales Tax and Income (STAR) bonds are a financing instrument that permits Kansas municipalities to challenge bonds to finance the event of main business, leisure, and tourism tasks. The bonds are paid off by way of the gross sales tax income generated by the event.
The venture remains to be in its early phases and has not but obtained any STAR bonds. When the theme park was introduced up at Monday’s metropolis council assembly, not everybody was on board.
Many individuals in opposition to the theme park mentioned it will lower into residential areas. One lady mentioned she anxious a brand new park would considerably enhance taxes and destroy the present panorama of her small metropolis.
“I moved to Bonner to dwell in a small city,” she mentioned. “If I needed to dwell within the metropolis I’d have moved to Leawood, not Bonner Springs. I just like the small city really feel and that [park] goes to remove from our small city.”
One other Bonner Springs resident was for the theme park, saying it will put Bonner Springs within the nationwide highlight.
“It’s going to enhance our metropolis. It’s going to take us to the subsequent stage,” he mentioned. “Bonner must develop, to have companies improved in that neighborhood and I feel this is a chance.”
At this level, Bonner Springs representatives have solely drawn out the boundaries of a STAR bond district, and haven’t but obtained any precise STAR bond funds. Gilliland mentioned that may be the subsequent step ahead.
“There are plenty of processes now we have to undergo from working with the state to trying on the monetary feasibility of the venture,” Gilliland mentioned. “There’s plenty of due diligence now we have to undergo after which current to town council to maneuver ahead.”
STAR bonds have been used for a number of tasks in Kansas, together with Village West, The Legends Retailers, and Kansas Speedway which first opened to racing again in 2001.
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