KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There will be a new mayor in Kansas City, Missouri, when the 2023 NFL Draft arrives, but preparing for that event will be a big part of Sly James successor's job.
And it's also created at least one thing the two candidates who emerged from last month's primary KC City Council members Jolie Justus and Quinton Lucas, can agree on.
"It's a big deal for Kansas City," Lucas said.
Justus agreed: "It's a big deal for Kansas City, and I'm really excited about it."
LISTEN: Lucas, Justus outline vision for Kansas City
When the draft rolls into town, most visitors for the NFL's second biggest annual event will arrive via a new terminal at Kansas City International Airport.
"It's very clear there is a direct correlation based on the year we were chosen," Justus said.
Both candidates have been in the huddle for the $1.9 billion project. Justus chair the City Council's Airport Committee, which Lucas also serves on.
"I will tell you that both City Manager Troy Schulte and I have looked at the airlines, we have looked at the developers and the construction partners and said, 'You don't have a choice,. This is opening in 2023 so we are ready for the NFL Draft,'" Justus said.
Lucas hopes the new airport will help attract other major events to Kansas City in the future.
"It helps us say that we're ready, no matter the size of the event, to showcase our city, to get people in and out efficiently," Lucas said, "We'll have a good hotel room stock, too."
That's thanks in part to an 800-room boost from the Loew's Convention Center Hotel, which set to open in the spring of 2020.
Of course, 2023 is another mayoral election year, so presumptive Mayor Justus or Mayor Lucas will be in a re-election battle as the NFL Draft arrives.
Before that work begins, both candidates took a moment Wednesday to reflect on the progress the city has made and the excitement of seeing it in the spotlight.
"This is something that most of us couldn't imagine having in Kansas City, and I continue to think anything that gets our city in the news that is talking about how we're such an exciting place is going to be a good thing," Lucas said.
Justus added, "It says a tremendous amount about what we are, what we're becoming and frankly what we've always been, which has been a best-kept secret. And now we're really going to be exposed as being one of the greatest cities in the country."
