KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. 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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The city of Mission says it’s ready to score when it comes to the World Cup. Mission city leaders held a forum Tuesday for business owners and employees to ask questions, learn about city preparations, and find ways they can capitalize on the big event.
“This is something new and unique,” said Mission Mayor Sollie Flora. “We are doing everything we can to make sure that Mission is ready.”
Flora said the city will be part of two different transit routes during the World Cup: ConnectKC26 Region Direct (the FIFA Fan Festival route) and Johnson County United Link (public transit circulator routes connecting Johnson County cities). The mayor also said the city of roughly 10,000 is preparing for anywhere between 1,000 to 1,500 people at the city’s transit center each day during this summer’s matches.
“There's still a lot of unknowns,” she said. “For example, we don't know the hours of operation yet, so I think it's just making sure we continue to stay keyed into the larger regional efforts, and get that information out to our businesses and residents as we have it.”
Mission will also hold an event called Matchday at the Mission Market for the group stage match on Thursday, June 25. The matchday celebration at Broadmoor Park will highlight local Mission spots with food and drink vendors, plus a giant screen to watch the match.
The city is planning to add a World Cup resource page to its website, aiming to help answer questions and provide the best city staff contacts for all things World Cup.
Flora shared some advice for fellow Mission residents.
“If you're talking about international visitors, really a big advantage of Mission is everything is walkable,” she said. “Expect the unexpected ... because when you're dealing with this number of people — and this sort of unique opportunity for our community, and this kind of big-impact economic event — you can plan as best as you can, but there's always going to be some surprises.”
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