KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is officially less than a month away and, in preparation for the big day, some of Kansas City's most rundown areas are getting an All-Star makeover.
Refreshing old ball fields, leveling rundown homes and cleaning up areas that are overrun with vacant homes are just a few of the things being done to spruce up the city.
Mike Schoemacher with Neighborhood and Community Services said this is all part of a combined effort to put Kansas City's best foot forward and portray its best image.
Work like this is done every day, but with this project, $180,000 is exclusively being spent on 29 targeted homes that are eyesores to the city's expected visitors.
Damesha Johnson lives on the east side of Kansas City and said she is concerned with her children playing so close to dangerous homes.
"As long as I've been here, it's been like this. I mean, they are all over the block," Johnson said. "We tell our kids to stay up here in front, so yeah, we worry about our kids and I'm pretty sure the other neighbors worry about their kids too."
Living just a block from one of the refreshed ball fields, Johnson said she is thrilled with the work, which is a play aimed at improving the city as well as a hope to hit a home run within the sporting community as the city works to draw in other big games.
A number of other projects are going on in preparation for the All-Star game. The VA Clinic on North Avenue in Kansas City was recently refurbished in a project paid for by Major League Baseball. Other projects set to take place before the game include repairs to sidewalks near the J.C. Nichols fountain at the Country Club Plaza and a sweep of junk signs across the city.
The All-Star weekend will bring in a projected $65 million in sales. If that money can stay in Kansas City, then the improvement money spent is a no-brainer for the city, its spokesman said.
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