KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The City of Kansas City, Mo., will put its best foot forward to impress — and hopefully — win the bid to host the 2016 Republican National Convention on Wednesday.
Delegates with the Republican National Convention will fly into the downtown airport around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. They will visit the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District, the Country Club Plaza, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and more.
But winning them over won’t be easy.
“I gotta tell you, the way this has started in Cleveland, the rest of the cities are going to have a lot of work to do,” Reince Priebus, RNC chair, said. He was speaking to the media in Cleveland, one of four finalists that RNC delegates will tour in a search for a 2016 host of the convention.
Dallas and Denver are also in the running. RNC officials said they were impressed by the people of Cleveland, but Kansas City officials aren’t going down without a fight. They say the Kansas City community is also passionate about winning the bid, and they want downtown businesses to leave their lights on so RNC delegates can see the skyline. They also believe with the central location Kansas City offers, it will be be convenient for people traveling across the country.
“We have to show them that we have the best venue, that we have great restaurants, an entertainment district, so we have a lot to show them in a short period of time,” Troy Stremming, co-chair, Kansas City, said.
Kansas City last hosted the RNC in 1976. If chosen to host it again 40 years later, it will put Kansas City in the national spotlight for four days in the summer of 2016. The estimated economic impact is around $425 million. Kansas City will get $50 million in federal funds to pay for security and logistics. It will bring in around 40,000 visitors and 15,000 media representatives from around the world.
The RNC will be in Kansas City through Friday morning. Following their Kansas City tour, they will then travel to Denver and Dallas next week.
They hope to announce the winner during the next RNC meeting in August.