The office of U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), announced this fall the award of an $800,000 grant to Community Builders of Kansas City. Issued from the Office of Community Services, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the grant will go to support the development of SW19 at the Stadium (SW19), the only pickleball facility on Kansas City’s East Side.
“Once construction is completed, we will use these Community Economic Development funds for equipment and supplies and to support personnel costs of the newly created positions,” said Shannon Hesterberg, CBKC’s chief operations and real estate officer. She said those new roles include managers and receptionists as well as food service workers operating the facility’s coffee shop and restaurant.
CBKC will partner with Kansas City’s public workforce agency, the Full Employment Council, to recruit, hire and train low-income individuals for the new jobs. Benefits for these employees include health insurance, retirement plans and paid time off. Also included are wraparound supportive services.
Designed to host eight indoor pickleball courts, a bar, restaurant and VIP rooms, SW19 at the Stadium will be the home of the Kansas City Stingers, an expansion market team of the National Pickleball League. Just as importantly, the project aligns with the health and wellness pillar of CBKC’s strategic plan by introducing the sport to Eastern Jackson County youth and families.
With colleges beginning to offer pickleball scholarships, the SW19 team wants to make the facility the go-to location for underserved Eastern Jackson County youth and families where players of all skill levels are welcomed, and competitive play can be developed.
“The area in Eastern Jackson County has suffered from prolonged disinvestment, with nearly three in four households in Eastern Kansas City earning less than the national median household income,” said Hesterberg. “This project will create 34 new jobs, 26 of which will be filled by individuals with low income.”
The approximately $4.5 million SW19 at the Stadium project is replacing the former CoCo Key Water Resort connected to the 12.4-acre former Adam’s Mark Hotel & Conference Center site, 9103 E. 39th Street. CBKC acquired the complex after it closed in 2020. CBKC and the owners SW19 Tennis and Pickleball in Leawood, Daryl Wyatt and Julie Gibson, are partners in SW19 at the Stadium and The Stingers. In the National Pickle Ball League™, Wyatt currently is ranked sixth in the world.