Original story (10:55 a.m. May 18): Parks Board Commissioner Aggie Stackhaus is weeping like Iron Eyes Cody after Rockfest destroyed 14 acres of Penn Valley Park. AEG is paying for the repairs, but Stackhaus doesn't want the annual rock festival to return to the park (The Pitch's Berry Anderson filed a dispatch from the scene). I stopped out this morning -- and just three days removed from Rockfest -- the park is a muddy wasteland (click the photo to see a slideshow of the carnage).
Update (2:25 p.m. May 18): Mayor Mark Funkhouser is courting the Rockfest vote, supporting the annual rock festival remaining in Penn Valley Park.
"I support the young men and women who see Rockfest as an anchor for their community," The Funk said in a statement issued this afternoon. "Kansas City needs more fun and entertaining events. ... The bottom line is that grass will grow again. But residents driven away by overzealous comments may not return."
Funk wasn't just issuing statements. He also signed the Facebook
petition to keep Rockfest at the park.
"I, for one, hope
that Rockfest continues to grace the Liberty Memorial and Penn Valley
Park for years to come."
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I mentioned to him while the event was going on that the fields would
be destroyed and not to mention it's too loud inside city limits. Tens
of thousands of residents are forced to listen to that sh*t since they
PAID the CITY for a permit! This was his reply.
Aww, the music is too loud and the people are having too much fun in the rain and the grass is gone. How about some cheese to go with that whine? The check was cashed BEFORE Rockfest and that 'little' donation doesn't HAVE to cover the costs of the repairs because AEG does that, IN ADDITION TO PAYING FOR THE VENUE. Sorry, about Pride Fest truely, but the new locale will be terrific too. For the rest of you, I don't like country music but when the hillbillies have their Stampede and leave beer cans and spitters all over the place, you won't hear Rockfest attendees crying over it. Likewise, the wine & cheese & jazz crowd can suck it because if it'd been their event it would've been an epic fail. Everyone would be too worried about ruining their Coach shoes. Memorial Day is not ruined, the park is not ruined and if you're worried about the grass, good news, IT GROWS BACK! Now suck it up and put your big girl panties on. And for heaven sake, stop whining like a bunch of babies over a little grass. AEG has the grass at Penn Valley Park under control. Schools are closing, Plaquemines Parrish is covered in oil and the market dropped 1,000 points IN ONE DAY! Want to spend your time worrying, worry about things that ACTUALLY MATTER!
For those of you who are throwing out racial slurs like "white trash' and 'homophobe' what makes you think that behavior is ok? I understand your upset because the park was a muddy mess and I understand the dissapointment of having an event cancelled/Moved because of it but that certainly does not make it ok to name call. My husband and myself attended. we both have steady jobs and are respected in society I have Family members who are gay That I love very much and it really pisses me off that you would judge us purely on the fact that we attended this event and it threw a wrench in your event plans. can you act any more like a child?
AEG,
PLEASE MOVE ROCKFEST TO A COOLER CITY. With folks like Abetard in KC, I don't wanna hang out there anyway. KC has too many self-righteous, close-minded, crybabies for us to party there. The music is too loud??? You city folks don't know what silence is. Why would you be concerned about a half-day of added noise. There is a constant buzz/humm in the city anyway and it already smells like crap. There is no peace there so why is everyone's panties in such a wad?
Let's have this thing somewhere else PLEASE!!
Aggie......what an ugly name. I bet she chews tobacco and intimidates men.
Oh, and since we're all redirecting events around here, I recommend they have the "Pride" gathering in California or Colorado. Surely there isn't that much of that kind of "Pride" around in KS or MO is there.....well, maybe in the city, but we don't do the plug-and-tug deal where I'm from. Chicks and dudes only. That's the only way babies get made.
I had a great time at Rockfest. It is too bad that beautiful park was destroyed. I'd like to see the event moved to a location where we'll be welcome. City folks are supposed to be tolerant right? Why are these comments about inbreds and white trash all over the place then? That's not tolerance. If I brought some of my redneck buddies to KC and started using racial slang for blacks or referencing gays by slang terms, wouldn't you all blast me for profiling?
I'm a very succesful engineer with a bachelor's degree from a very credible institution. My wife and I visited your city (fun to see, wouldn't even consider living there!!) for the event. We stayed in your hotels and ate every meal at a different one of your fancy resturaunts. We enjoyed some beers in the P&L district Friday night and took cabs everywhere we went. Enjoyed the show Saturday, then woke up Sunday morning and spent some more money in your city. Then we come on and read these foul statements. You folks are ridiculous, though I'm now agreeing that the show needs to be held somewhere else.
How much money does the Gay Pride rally bring to your city or some of the other lame music events that you hold? Any of them come with 50,000 open wallets? We spent about $1,000 OUTSIDE the walls of Rockfest. I'd sure like to give that to another city.
Finally, it's not the kind of music that's being played that is causing the problems you speak of. Manhattan has a Country Stampede every year. Folks drink, but they're not "drug addicts, pot-heads, blah, blah blah" The event brings a great deal of money to an otherwise stale economy. Plenty of residents cry about it and say how disrespectful the concert goers are, but they still have the event every year. It's not that all people who listen to country music are bad, it's just that with so many people letting loose for a day in one area has the potential to create a mess. Bring Rockfest out to the sticks where the uppidies won't know how much fun we're having!!!
Nobody did it on purpose. We were so drunk an high that sliding in the mud was fun.
Might I suggest a fine north of the river venue for pridefest. Happy to have the business if KC can't provide a alternative. We know the value of dollars. I am sure our grass is greener... http://www.kearneyamphitheater...
1356 S Ash Ave stash 612-1239 house 10284 E 10th St http://www.facebook.com/?ref=h...
=100001085236400&v=wall&ref=search jeremey munden BATTAGLIA , JOHN I , Defendant
114 N WHEELING
KANSAS CITY, MO 64124 CABRERA , JOSEFINA , Plaintiff http://www.facebook.com/find-f...
ref=hpb#!/profile.php?id=100000912642827&v=wall&re
f=ts
BATTAGLIA , JOHN T , Defendant
8613 SMART
KANSAS CITY, MO 64125 mike hansen on 14th and white at the dirty green houshttp://www.myspace.com/816... http://www.myspace.com/kingjam... http://www.myspace.com/4829841... http://www.myspace.com/4164181... MUNDEN , JEREMY M , Defendant
5211 E 6TH ST
KANSAS CITY, MO 64124 d.a. salinas at james kings house on 39th ALESHIRE , JESSE L , Defendant
9728 E 27TH ST S
INDEPENDENCE, MO 64052 http://www.myspace.com/bosco24... http://www.facebook.com/profil...
8170177 halen frazier joe murillo http://www.myspace.com/puffy81... rudy villareal frank quiroz a guy named tony who drives a white seamless guttering truck on st john and hardesty f s wheels on 12th and belmont car lot on truman and van brunt money house 256 N Brighton Ave 4122 E 9th St atomic tatoos across from applemarket on independence av 412 n quincy 7th street between brighton and denver at a house on the middle of the block with a grey suv with 24 inch rims gmc yukon mike hansen on 14th and white at the dirty green house http://www.facebook.com/profil...
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The reality is that Rockfest destroyed the East Lawn of liberty Memorial park 4 years ago. It has been off limits to events since. It takes that long to repair the damage. It's much more than grass to those of you that smoked too much to understand this.
The west lawn will now be off limits for longer. For those of you that think that's ok, and that you paid enough for it to be no big deal. What about the dozens of other festivals that use that park? hmmmmmmmm
And you think your lousy donation to City and Parks & Rec covers all the damage, NOT EVEN CLOSE!
This could have happened to any event that was held at the park that day. This concert has been held for many years and because mother nature threw a wrench in it this year now it is AEG's fault. We can't control the weather and it sounds like AEG is cooperating and paying for the damage.
This concert brings a ton of people to the city which in turns brings revenue. We don't need any more political figures trying to tell us how to act or tell us what we are prohibited to do. I attended the concert and although it was a muddy mess it was amazing to see so many people ther having a good time. If it isn't your type of music then fine but do not try to take away from the 50,000+ people who enjoy it. Things like this is what is causing KC to lose so much potential. Let us have something that we enjoy and that brings others to the city. We should be honored to host one of the largest 1 day music festivals.
Here's another perspective - I live on Union Hill and this concert is a debacle that I and thousands of other area residents have put up with for years now, but this year was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
There was trash EVERYWHERE before the concert even started. We've been picking up beer bottles and cans, water bottles, fast-food trash, mud-caked shoes, socks, clothes they stripped off in the midle of street and just left there!
I walked my dog at 6:30 in the evening and was accosted by a mud-covered guy who was literally falling down drunk/stoned. The stream of sirens - police, ambulance and fire - was relentless from about 11 a.m. to well past 1 a.m.
Look, I grew up on rock and roll, I've been to concerts like RockFest, i.e. Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic, but it was held on a privately-owned golf course outside of city limits where it didn't ruin the day of everyone who had the misfortune to live within a three-mile radius. Bottom line - this is not an appropriate venue for Rockfest. Period.
Ok to the people who are writing nasty messges about imbreds and white trash - you are completely out of line! I am a an accountant at Deloitte and Touche and my boyfriend is a surgeon! We had an amazing time. There are people of all ages and classes at the concert. Unless you attend you have no right to call people names and be judgemental. What kind of a person are you? Not a very nice one that is for sure. The park will be repaired - it's not a big deal my goodness. Relax and find something to do with your time. You obviously have no respect for music and I bet you are pretty boring too! Rockfest is a Kansas City tradition. GET OVER IT BECAUSE IT WILL NOT GO AWAY!
Perhaps the parks department could hold a mud wrestling even at PV Park to raise the money to grow grass. How about Aggie Stackhaus v Beth Gottstein?
That would pack 'em in.
This concertbrings in more than 200,000 grand into the city you dumb asses it s just grass and it does grow Quite being a bunch of whinny bitches....
BERKLEY PARK along the Riverfront would be GRAND for the upcoming Pride Festival since Penn Valley is destroyed.
KCMO & ROCKFEST SHOULD COMP IT FOR US TOO!
Put it where they have the renaissance festival they are used to the mud and and close to the speedway and verizon amphitheater so noise isnt an issue and wyco loves all the new business anyway
Well it's official! The PRIDE Festival (that does NOT destroy public property) will NOT be held on the west grounds of Penn Valley park. It IS destroyed and cannot be repaired in time. We have been told it cannot happen there this year. THANKS 98.9, I'm sure your pockets are fat and you don't care. Your crowd was out of control and destroyed everything but the trees. Go LOOK FOR YOURSELF!
The City and Parks & Recs is franticly trying to relocate our festival. The East lawn where we used to have it as well as Berkley park along the River are being considered.
Stay tuned for an update from your Pride Committee in the next couple days.
http://www.facebook.com/profil...
If you live in KCMO and pay taxes in KCMO, you should not be against ANYTHING right now that is ultimately giving the city potential sales tax dollars. Whether Rockfest is your cup of tea or not or you personaly like the high & tight look over the mohawk, you can't get too short-sighted when it comes to the city finances. Bottom line, folks, KCMO is borderline broke. If 50,000 ticket buyers either spent money at a local business that day, stayed in a KCMO hotel, wandered into the P&L district at some point Friday or Saturday night, then this show was not only a success but needs to STAY in KCMO.
I love you people who live in KCMO because I was a resident too for 10 years. However, I moved away because of schools and quality of life. My neighborhood never got younger, always got more beat up and my house value ended up 65% less than what I paid for it, however my taxes went up 3 times in that period of time. Everyone wants infrastructure in KC, but nobody wants to pay for it. Everyone wants arenas and arts events and better schools, yet, when an event comes in and does this, people immediately want it gone in favor of a Christian Book fair on the same grounds.
You have to start taking the good with the bad or the city of KCMO is going to become the worst situation for someone to call home. Its already close to that: Poor schools, rising taxes, poor infrastructure combined with an aging and declining tax base, declining home values and less jobs. And millions debt on new arenas, ballpark renovations and increasing costs to maintain fire, police and roads.
You need 50,000 people spending money in KCMO. If you don't like it? Please, lets have this event in Lee's Summit. I'll be happy to enjoy the windfall.
everybody needs to stop being so hateful towards rockfest.. It's music which I'm sure alot of you all listen too and if not then that's you.. But the people that do listen to rock and look forward to every year having rockfest.. Quit trying to take that away from them.. It's not white trash either!!! Don't be racist on here!!!
I hope they plan on laying down all new sod. The other events coming up at Penn Valley will lose money as people won't want to hang out in giant mud pits.
Funny, I have an email from The Funk dated May 16th. Obviously ROCKFEST wrote someone a check Monday.
When I mentioned to him while the event was going on that the fields would be destroyed and not to mention it's too loud inside city limits. Tens of thousands of residents are forced to listen to that sh*t since they PAID the CITY for a permit! This was his reply.
COPY:Mayor Mark Funkhouser May 16 at 4:02pm Reply
Thanks for letting me know about this. I'll pass it along and ask what we're going to do different next time.
Obvioulsy NOTHING WILL CHANGE IN THIS TOWN!
There are OTHER events that use that park grounds throughout the summer. Not now. Grass takes time to grow. especially after it's full of ruts that have to be leveled out.
ROCKFEST is TOO Loud for city limits and obviously to destructive for our infrastructure. Take it to Arrowhead Stadium, they don't need the field!
I've petitioned the city to deny RockFest's permit next year. The Parks & Rec department won't have to deny them.
I for one am in support of getting that inbred white trash fest out of Kansas City.
hmmm...if rockfest doesn't return, how does aggie plan on making up the $75 thousand or so that rockfest pays/donates to the memmorial each year...has this really been thought all the way through or is this just a temper tantrum for attention?
oh no! how will we ever get grass back in this park? oh wait grass seed. that's right... the grass is destroyed every year and every year, it grows back.
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