KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The annual American Royal horse and livestock exhibition in Kansas City is moving to Kansas from Missouri.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and American Royal officials announced the move Tuesday during a news conference at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
Brownback’s administration has been working for months to lure the full, weeks-long exhibition to the Kansas side.
The 117-year-old American Royal is one of Kansas City’s most fabled cultural institutions, drawing nearly 270,000 people.
The American Royal has made the decision to relocate the American Royal operations to Wyandotte County, KS. The new complex will include two arenas, multi-function exhibit space, increased stalling areas, and a new Agriculture Education Center (proposed design pictured).
American Royal officials have already moved the exhibition’s signature barbecue competition that begins Wednesday to the speedway.
Some Kansas legislators have voiced concern that to lure the American Royal, the state would promise a major development project on the Kansas side and finance it with bonds backed by sales tax revenues.