Editor’s note: Photo captions in this story were corrected at 11:25 a.m. to reflect that the Rock Island Bridge spans over the Kansas River.
Kansas City area business leaders got their first peek at the soon-to-be open Rock Island Bridge during a Wednesday afternoon luncheon.
Their meeting came a week before the long-awaited Rock Island Bridge is formally due to open for public use. The former shuttered railroad line that runs between the West Bottoms and Kansas City, Kansas, over the Kansas River was originally built in the early 1900s.
It has since, under the leadership of Mike Zeller of Flying Troost, been redeveloped into a highly anticipated 35,000-square-foot entertainment space with restaurants, spots to sit and enjoy the view and event spaces for public and community events like farmers markets. People can also reserve parts of the bridge for private gatherings.
The bridge will be available for public use on April 1, about three years after Zeller initially wanted to finish the project. The private-, public- and philanthropy-funded redevelopment required multiple levels of collaboration with vendors, local governments and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
About 50 people attended the lunch hosted at the bridge by the Armourdale Renewal Association. The group, which supports business owners and residents in Kansas City Kansas’ Armourdale neighborhood, holds a series of educational and outreach events throughout the year…