Kansas City Wizards have announced today that the developer of The Trails has begun demolition on the exterior of the former Bannister Mall. The demolition is the first physical step necessary to prepare the site, located at I-435 and Bannister Road in southeast Kansas City, for a proposed new mixed-use development anchored by an 18,500 seat professional soccer stadium to house the Wizards, Kansas City's Major League Soccer team.

"We are delighted that this moment has arrived," said Robb Heineman, Chief Executive of OnGoal, LLC, the owner of the Kansas City Wizards. "A lot of hard work by a lot of people has made this possible. The City of Kansas City, State of Missouri, public representatives, adjacent neighbourhoods, and all of Kansas City have shown tremendous support."

With many teams beginning to secure their own facilities, expansion of the league is seen to become easier as confliction with other sport joint use eases.

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