KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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Buc-ee's has broken ground on its travel center in Kansas City, Kansas, located near 601 Village West Parkway.
According to a release, Buc-ee's will hold 74,000 square feet and offer 120 fueling positions. It's also expected to bring at least 225 full-time jobs to the Kansas City area.
Buc-ee's Founder and Ceo Arch “Beaver” Aplin III said he looks forward to how the travel center will impact the area's job market and tax base. He also said they "hope to be back here in a little over a year for the ribbon cutting."
"We're bringing between 5,000 and 7,000 people every single day. That's like a nice-sized town, every day, 70% of which won't be from Kansas," Wyandotte Economic Development Council President Greg Kindle said.
"I think what you see here is the continued growth of economic development opportunities, especially out here in Village West and western Wyandotte County. And that spinoff is going to continue to grow," Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County Mayor Tyrone Garner said.
Buc-ee’s first confirmed it was eyeing the area near the Kansas Speedway in May 2024.
Since the initial announcement, residents have voiced excitement for what the gas station mecca could bring.
"When visitors come in and when they spend their dollars in KCK, then our locals don’t have to spend so much of their dollars to support the economy. So more visitors in KCK is always a good idea,” said Ritz Dasgupta, senior manager for Integrated Marketing Communications at Visit Kansas City, Kansas, the city’s tourism office.
A spokesperson for the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities shared this statement with KSHB 41's Wyandotte County beat reporter Rachel Henderson on the energy use of Buc-ee's:
"Buc-ee's has provided the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) with an estimated energy forecast consistent with what we typically see for a large retail or grocery facility. That level of demand falls well within BPU's current system capacity and planning models, and our infrastructure is fully prepared to support it without any impact to reliability."
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