Kansas City, Mo. ? In a step toward providing better customer service, Sprint Nextel Corp. has developed plans for a new Kansas City call center that eventually could employ 800 workers.

The center would be located in 150,000 square feet of space that Sprint Nextel has leased in a building recently vacated by Gateway, the computer company. The building is in the West Bottoms area near downtown.

Sprint Nextel, the nation’s third largest wireless communication provider, took out a city building permit July 21. Construction documents filed at City Hall show a floor plan with enough work stations to accommodate about 800 people.

The plan includes additional space for a cafeteria, “Sprint University” training center, conference rooms and an employee recreation area.

Sprint previously had a call center in downtown Lawrence.