Ever since the sixth grade, Platte County Roads Master Engineer Valerie McCaw has dreamed of designing and building cities.
Now, she will get the chance to step out of that dream and make it a reality—in a sense. She won’t be building an entire city, but she will be helping in the design of the new sports arena planned for downtown Kansas City.
McCaw has been selected a member of the Downtown Arena Design Team (DADT) and will be one of the many engineers involved in the construction of the Sprint Arena.
“I was selected through a selection process known as QBS (qualification based selection),” explained McCaw. “I received a phone call from a friend asking if I would be interested in working on the project.”
She says the City of Kansas City, Missouri has a requirement that 28% of the total fee must go to firms who are WBE (Women’s Business Enterprise) and MBE (Minority Business Enterprise).”
Because of McCaw’s affiliation with the WBE, she became appointed to the DADT. For McCaw her affiliation isn’t the only reason she decided to join the design team for the arena.
“It’s the same reason I worked at Platte County. I want to contribute to my community and to a project that will be around for a long, long time,” said McCaw.
According to McCaw, her part in the construction of the facility is a small but crucial piece.
“My part of the site design includes the water lines, sewer lines, storm sewer and pavement,” said McCaw. “I’ll take the bottom piece of the building and tie it into the city’s infrastructure.”
“It’s not the glamorous stuff, but it’s glamorous to me,” added McCaw.
McCaw, who was selected for the team on Sept. 30, says her part in the site design will pose challenges.
“The development of the infrastructure will be really intense and in a compressed schedule,” said McCaw.
“There are going to be a lot of people to coordinate with. When you’re designing sewer lines, you must get it down to a hundredth of a foot,” explained McCaw. “That fact along with the fact that I have to do it all within six months or less is quite overwhelming.”
The guts of the arena must be completed by April of 2005. Opening of the Sprint Arena is slated for early 2007.
“This opportunity is something I could call my parents and say hey I’m designing the sewer lines for the arena. It’s a really exciting opportunity,” stated McCaw.
According to McCaw, Disney summed up her new found opportunity best with four words.
“To steal from Disney, it’s ‘the Circle of Life.’ You get back what you give,” said McCaw. “I truly believe that if you do what you love, success will come.
“I decided in sixth grade that I wanted to build cities and now I’m doing what I love to do and their paying me to do it,” continued McCaw.
The $250 million budgeted project will encompass six acres of downtown Kansas City. When completed, the approximately 18,000-20,000 seat facility will be located at the southeast corner of 13th and Grand.
The arena will be one part of a downtown revitalization project.
“The arena is gong to be like the anchor on the east side of the Kansas City Live District,” said McCaw.
Four main architectural firms will lead the project including: HOK, Eller B. Becket, Rafael Architects, and 360 degree Architecture. The DADT is comprised of 372 members and consists of over a dozen firms.
According to Ben Barnert, lead project architect and senior principal at HOK, the architectural firms are in discussion with the facilities representatives to determine the design of the arena.
The preliminary design of the Sprint Arena was well embraced not only by the selection committee but by the public.
“We’re very pleased that the idea was embraced and we are willing to take that idea and apply it to the design,” said Barnert. “Right now we’re evaluating their needs with the idea.”
Architects are meeting with Kansas City, Missouri representatives, AEG (Anshutz Group Enterprise), and the naming rights partner – Sprint.
“We have to test everything to budget, schedule, as well as the expectations and needs of what has to be in the building to make it work,” explained Barnert. “We’re using that to create a design.”
Barnert stated that the schematic design, which will depict what the building will look like, is due at the end of December.
McCaw will step down from her post in the Platte County Planning and Zoning office on Nov. 30.
“I want to thank everyone. I’ve loved my time here and I have met some wonderful people,” said McCaw. “I’ve been able to participate in helping Platte County grow and now I’m going back to helping my community again.”
McCaw believes women shouldn’t be discouraged from getting into technical careers.
“This profession has given me a lot of opportunities, like this arena. The reason they looked at me is because of the city’s WBE requirement,” said McCaw. “Engineering has given me a lot of joys in my life.” Helping my community again.”
McCaw believes women shouldn’t be discouraged from getting into technical careers.
“This profession has given me a lot of opportunities, like this arena. The reason they looked at me is because of the city’s WBE requirement,” said McCaw. “Engineering has given me a lot of joys in my life.”

