KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Downtown Kansas City is about to be taken over by crazed college hoops fans as the Big 12 Basketball Tournament rolls into town on Wednesday.

Preparations were already under way on Monday morning. KCTV5's Liz Zamora said it's out with the old and in with the new at the Power & Light District where the bars and restaurants are bracing for the invasion of fans this week. The giant metal ball that is used for the New Year's Eve ball drop is being removed to make room for the thousands of visitors.

Vendors in the Power & Light District said they will be adding staff, stocking up merchandise and ordering a lot more food and drink to accommodate the fans who will be flocking to the Sprint Center for the tournament. Some places said they've ordered 10 times the amount of beer and eight times the normal amount of food.

The restaurants and bars told Zamora they are happy to have the tournament back in Kansas City.

"With all the people that are going to be down here -- I've heard numbers like 40,000 people in one day that will be packing this place -- it's wonderful," said Nick McMillan from Johnny's Tavern. "We love being down here and being part of this atmosphere and we think it's great for Kansas City, getting our hometown out there on the map mentioned like this."

Several streets near the Sprint Center will be closed to traffic during the tournament. Grand Boulevard from Truman Road to 13th Street will be blocked off. Fourteenth Street from Main Street To Grand Boulevard will also be shut down.