KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Union Station visitors will soon notice changes to the property surrounding the building.

Starting Monday, March 27, the south parking lot where many drivers park to go inside will be closed, so crews working the 2023 NFL Draft can start setting up the stage.

“Nearly 200 truckloads of steel will be brought into Union Station to build this super structure,” President George Guastello told FOX4 Tuesday.

Once that parking lot closes, drivers will need to use the parking garage on the west side of the building.

“So it really will help it for our customers that want to come down here and experience all the things that Union Station, the Post Office, Science City, and the Planetarium [have to offer].”

Guastello said some of his entities may have to close up to 10 days before the draft starts on Thursday, April 27. Science City, though, may be open until the day before the draft begins. 

“Everything is pretty fluid,” he continued. “As Kansas City likes to want to know everything right up front, we’re going to just have to go back and forth. But we will be telling our customers online and on our social and digital media and especially on our website, what’s happening when.”

Guastello told FOX4 in February the draft would have a huge financial impact on Union Station because of the closure. A spokeswoman for the National World War I Museum and Memorial also said they were told they’d be made “whole financially” from any losses they’d take on from helping put on the NFL Draft.

KC Sports Commission President Kathy Nelson elaborated on that Tuesday, saying those two entities are being financially compensated.

“On top of that, there’s a global reach and a global voice now that they wouldn’t have before,” Nelson said in an interview with FOX4.

“That marketing and that PR exposure to millions and millions of people, you can’t buy that. The World War I (Museum) will stay open to visitors throughout that week, and then we’re offsetting some of their expenses as well. The same with Union Station.” 

Nelson also said a platform they set up, called Kansas City Playmakers, is taking donations from sponsors to help support entities like Union Station and the museum and memorial.

“Those Playmakers are coming to the table to help us offset expenses around the draft,” she said.

Visit this site if you’re interested in becoming a Playmaker.