Kansas City, Mo. ? Mayor Kay Barnes said Wednesday she was “very optimistic” Kansas City could get a Final Four if voters approved tax measures to fund renovations and a rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex.

Barnes said she and Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt had spoken with Myles Brand, president of the NCAA, about plans for a rolling roof that would enclose the newly renovated Arrowhead Stadium.

“I greatly appreciate the feedback we are receiving from the NCAA, and I am very optimistic that Kansas City’s central location and long history of hosting nine previous men’s Final Four championships in Mid-America, more than any other community in the 67-year history of the event, will place us in a prime position to be awarded the event,” Barnes said at a news conference.

“With the rolling roof, no sports facility in America can match Arrowhead as a host site for a mega event such as the Final Four.”

Voters in Jackson County will decide Tuesday on a three-eighths-of-a-cent sales tax that would raise almost $500 million for renovations to Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums, home to the Royals and Chiefs, respectively. Another ballot would raise almost $200 million in a business tax for the rolling roof, which would accommodate both stadiums.

Major League Baseball and the NFL already have guaranteed that Kansas City would play host to a Super Bowl and an All-Star game if the renovations are made. The rolling roof would be necessary for the Super Bowl.

Barnes said the NCAA had not made a firm commitment to Kansas City.

“We are very well positioned with the NCAA regarding a Final Four,” Barnes said. “So we’re not talking about pie in the sky. We’re talking about what is not only possible, but what I believe is close to being a reality.”

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said no city was guaranteed a Final Four.

“We simply confirmed for city officials that the stadium would meet minimum seating capacity we require for the men’s Final Four,” Christianson said. “We require a whole host of other requirements as well.”

The lack of a guarantee as well as the feasibility of building the rolling roof is causing many opponents of the measures to advise against their approval.

“It’s a stretch,” Kevin Kietzman, host of a sports radio talk show, said of the possibility of Kansas City’s getting a Final Four.

“They don’t have anything. There’s not even a quote from Myles Brand saying, ‘We’d love the opportunity to come back to Kansas City.’

“I came away and didn’t know what the NCAA told Kansas City other than, ‘We’ll take your bid.”‘

Architect Ron Lubinski, who attended the news conference with Barnes, said Arrowhead, with the rolling roof, could seat about 60,000 for a basketball game.

Others who spoke at the news conference in favor of the sales tax included the athletic directors at Kansas University, Missouri and Missouri-Kansas City.

“Everybody knows the rivalry between the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri is a great rivalry,” said Kansas AD Lew Perkins.

“But this is a time when we can put aside the rivalry and ask all the people of Jackson County, Mo., – KU grads and Missouri grads – to stand together and vote in favor of this. At the end of the day, it’s going to benefit everybody. It’s going to be great for the whole community.”

Barnes said she did not know what the polling numbers on the two questions were. Most observers expect the vote to be close.