May 22, 2014 (Kansas City, Mo.) – Today, Enid Mickelsen, chairwoman of the 2016 RNC Site Selection Committee, announced that the field of six cities vying for the 2016 convention has been narrowed to four. Kansas City, along with Cleveland, Dallas and Denver, has been selected for a site visit to take place in June. Cincinnati and Las Vegas eliminated themselves from contention.

“On behalf of the KC 2016 Bid Task Force, we are pleased to advance to the next round and excited to welcome the Site Selection Committee to Kansas City this summer,” said KC 2016 Bid Task Force Co-Chair and Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Sly James.  “We’re extremely grateful to Site Selection Committee Chairwoman Mickelsen, RNC Chairman Priebus, and the RNC staff for this opportunity and we’re eager to show them, and the world, all that this region has to offer.”

The announcement marked the second cut in the Site Selection Committee’s process to select a Host City. All competing cities submitted formal bids on or before Feb. 26 and presented in Washington, D.C. In late March, the RNC announced it had eliminated Columbus and Phoenix from the list of cities vying for the convention and scheduled Technical Visits to the six remaining cities. On April 25, the RNC conducted its Kansas City Technical Visit and assessed potential convention venues, hotels, transportation and finance capacity. During the RNC’s Spring Meeting in Memphis, the Technical Committee presented its findings to the Site Selection Committee.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Kansas City to showcase itself to the Site Selection Committee and to the RNC,” said KC2016 Bid Task Force Co-Chair and Pinnacle Entertainment Executive Vice President Troy Stremming. “We greatly appreciate our partners, including the Kansas City regional hotels, venues and transportation companies who have been so supportive and helpful as we prepared our response and presentation. This has been a true community effort and getting to the next round is an accomplishment we can all be proud of.”

The RNC plans to schedule city visits in June with an announcement expected in August.

About KC2016

KC2016 is a bi-state, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to successfully bidding on, winning and hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention in Kansas City. Kansas City last hosted the Republican National Convention in 1976 at Kemper Arena. For more information about KC2016, go to kcrnc2016.com.

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