Based in Kansas City, Mo., and founded in 2021 by Angie and Chris Long and Brittany and Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Current is a professional women’s soccer team that competes in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Named for the powerful, rushing currents and momentum of the nearby Missouri River, the team is committed to blazing new trails for women, athletes and its home city and to “becoming the best women’s football club in the world.

Part of that mission involved construction of the new 11,500-seat Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Stadium at Berkley Riverfront Park in Kansas City, Mo. The team’s dedicated and cutting-edge arena is designed specifically for female soccer players and their fans. Since playing their first official home game in the stadium on March 16, 2024, the Current became the first team in NWSL history to sell out every one of its 13 home games in 2024. 

The timely and successful construction of CPKC Stadium wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and expertise provided by Mark One Electric Co. Inc., also based in Kansas City, Mo.

“When Mark One Electric first started this job in October 2022, our relationship with the Kansas City Current was new,” said Rosana Privitera Biondo, president of woman-owned Mark One Electric. “We were brought in through our strong and long-term relationship with Kansas City-based general contractor J.E. Dunn Construction Co. and our past experience working on other sports venues in the Kansas City market for such teams as the Chiefs, the Royals, the Sporting KC and others. We were excited when the opportunity to work on CPKC Stadium arose, and we worked diligently to prepare ourselves for the bid process.”

Bringing the magic

“We’ve been involved in either the new construction or remodel/improvement of many stadiums in the area and continue to have annual success in that space,” said Cari Kelly, project manager, who was responsible for ensuring that all materials needed for the project were on-site in a timely manner and that crew members installed the job to its specs and scope. “While this was a bid contract, the GC chose us because they knew we could perform.”

Per the layout of the unique horseshoe-shaped stadium that faces the scenic Missouri River, “this facility is expressly designed for professional women athletes, unlike so many other sports facilities nationwide. Current players aren’t using a stadium built for a different team or working out of makeshift spaces originally designed for men,” Kelly said, adding that that the owners also prided themselves on creating a highly sustainable stadium experience. “There are a lot of recycling initiatives in place, such as a reusable cup program, and the facility uses all local vendors to help support and promote our area economy.”

“We were involved in every facet of the construction of the arena, from rough-in and help with problem-solving to installation and final turn-key,” Kelly said. 

The company oversaw everything from temporary lighting and power to electrical service switchgear, panels, fuses, breakers, conduit, conductors, supports and grounding as necessary for power distribution in buildings. Mark One’s work also included all electrical receptacles; line voltage electrical connections to mechanical equipment, including plumbing, HVAC and fire protection systems; all lighting fixtures and controls; all telecom, video surveillance, fire alarm, access control and audiovisual systems; and much more.

According to Kelly, several tasks in particular stood out for her and the 50 Mark One Electric crew members who worked on-site at the height of the project.

A view of CPKC Stadium and the Kansas City Skyline from atop the scoreboard.		Opening day ceremonies at CPKC Stadium on March 16, 2024.

“Some of the most interesting activities we undertook included our installation of broadcast pedestals with pin-and-sleeve hookups so that media outlets could televise different games as well as the conduits we installed to get power up to the Samsung scoreboards in the open structure system,” she said. “We also provided the connections that enabled the mobility of a grow light system, which is a big portable arm housing pink lights that shine on the grass to help ensure even growth in areas of the field that might get shaded by the arena’s horseshoe design. We also helped wire and install a SubAir vault heat system underneath the field to help groundskeepers measure the oxygen and moisture levels of the grass in order to maintain it at the highest level.”

Among challenges they faced, “we were supposed to be largely done with our work in January 2024 so that the move-in with furniture could take place and the first home game could be played in mid-March, but we incurred over 300 change requests on a project that was already operating on a very tight schedule,” Kelly said. 

Specifically, “a team store was added during the project, along with an ongoing stream of concession stands in concourses and other buildings and additional circuits for media outlets outside of what was originally scoped. There was also the addition of artwork that the owners wanted lit up to honor a past women’s soccer team that won the World Cup as well as the local artists that created it,” she said. “These features were all added as interest and excitement around the new stadium grew, but changes to the original design can make you late to subsequent phases of the project. We ended up working right up to the first kick and were the last ones to leave in order to ensure that all of the correct hook-ups were in place.”

Despite the unexpected additions to their task list, “we knew our target completion date and that we had to make it happen,” Kelly said. “We were so proud to be on a project of this scale and we weren’t going to let it fail. We focused on staying organized and had great vendors on board—we even had people cutting wire at 8 p.m. one night to accommodate a particular change order. We were committed to bringing the magic, and everybody helped us. It’s a Kansas City mentality; everybody was proud of and excited about the new stadium and wanted to be a part of it.”

As for lessons learned, “this project reinforced the importance of keeping our sequencing and scheduling manageable and being vocal about things that might cause delays,” Kelly said. “It was about clear communication, honest feedback, managing expectations with the GC, and sometimes saying ‘no.’ We always made every change request happen, even under the tightest of deadlines, but we learned that saying yes to every request can really tax our resources.”

“Overall, this job created a lot of learning experience for me and changed me as a project manager, in the very best way,” Kelly said. “Both I and our foremen now look at all of our jobs differently knowing what we’ve been able to accomplish and how to get over the finish line.”

A proud legacy

“I had the opportunity to attend opening day at CPKC Stadium in March 2024, and it was so amazing to be a part of the energy,” Kelly said. “Everyone was so excited to take their families out to the stadium, and it was an incredibly proud day. We kept a crew on-site for the first few KC Current games to ensure that things ran smoothly and everything worked as planned.”

For her part, “I’m beyond proud to have been part of this project,” said Kelly, who grew up as a three-sport athlete and is the daughter of a veteran electrician. “I had the opportunity to take some of my nieces to the stadium before it opened, and it’s exciting to see that stadiums for professional women athletes—and the growing legions of fans championing those teams—will become a norm now. I’m thrilled to be part of that history.”

“Mark One is very honored to have the first women’s soccer stadium in the world included in our portfolio, and we feel blessed to have been hired by J.E. Dunn Construction and the Long and Mahomes families to perform the work,” Privitera Biondo said. “We’re also so proud to be a woman-owned [company] with a top-notch team—including members Jason Moreland, Dallas Craft, Frank DeFeo, Derrick McLauchen and Stephen Brown, to name a few—led by outstanding female project manager Cari Kelly.”

Kelly is also proud of Mark One and its leaders for the strides they’re making toward closing the gender gap in the largely male-dominated field of electrical contracting.

“Rosana really champions growing the field and providing opportunities to women,” Kelly said. “Of our 50 crew members out there, a large majority are women, and we’re among the only contractors to exceed our own diversity targets on a regular basis. In Rosana, we have a strong leader ... who leads by example. She successfully brings us to the table on these projects and gets us exposure on a national and international basis.” 

Looking ahead, Kelly said, “the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals are both in the market for new stadiums in the future, and we’re putting ourselves in the forefront of consideration for those projects based on our experience.” 

On top of all the other rewards of this iconic project, Kelly finds it extremely gratifying to contribute to her home city’s forward motion. “In the last 10–15 years, Kansas City has really put itself on the map, and it’s exciting to be part of all of the changes and progress we’re making, which are being seen and recognized on a local, national and worldwide level,” she said. “Our infrastructure and local businesses will all benefit from the tourism that this positive activity generates.”

“Ultimately,” Kelly concluded, “it feels great to see all of the jobs Mark One Electric has been involved with on the Kansas City skyline, and our work at CPKC Stadium really shines among them.”

Mark One Electric Co. Inc. / CPKC Stadium