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Rock Island Bridge entertainment hub spanning Kansas River delays opening until spring 2025

The Rock Island Bridge will elevate an ambitious entertainment district 60 feet above the Kansas River.
Rock Island Bridge
The Rock Island Bridge will elevate an ambitious entertainment district 60 feet above the Kansas River.

Near the Hy-Vee Arena, the historic bridge is being refit with 35,000 square feet of music venues, coffee shops, dining and trails. The project will physically connect Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas, and hopes to revitalize the riverfront.

The opening of a “destination landmark bridge” — set to reshape Kansas City’s West Bottoms amid an aggressive district-wide redevelopment boom — is now expected to be pushed back to spring 2025 as leaders of the Rock Island Bridge project refine plans for its public debut.

“To ensure everything is in place and working at the highest standard for our guests, we’ve made the difficult decision to delay the grand opening of the Rock Island Bridge until spring,” said Mike Zeller, CEO of Flying Truss, which is leading the Rock Island Bridge effort.

“In the interim, there will be opportunities for the public to experience this remarkable transformation on guided tours.”

A public-private partnership that also taps into philanthropic and corporate funding, the project reimagines the historic 1905 bridge as a gathering space and entertainment hub with music, dining, coffee shops, bars, trailhead services, and more.

It is expected to boast 35,000 square feet of usable space — all elevated 60 feet above the Kansas River.

A rendering of the Rock Island Bridge project, which is expected to have 35,000 square feet of usable space.
Flying Truss
A rendering of the Rock Island Bridge project, which is expected to have 35,000 square feet of usable space.

The redevelopment — not far from the Hy-Vee Arena — aims to not only reactivate the bridge, but use the structure as a catalyst for economic development and revitalization along the waterfront, as well as a means to physically connect Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas.

It previously was set to open to the public later in 2024.

“Going first is rarely simple or straightforward, and this is compounded by the need to navigate the U.S. Army Corps levee raise going on at both ends of the bridge. But we’re on the 20-yard line, and this gives us the time to ensure everything is running smoothly for our guests, and at a standard that this national-level project requires,” Zeller explained in a press release about the delay.

Built in 1905 by the Rock Island Railroad for transporting livestock and freight, the bridge has been out of service since the 1970s.
Rock Island Bridge
Built in 1905 by the Rock Island Railroad for transporting livestock and freight, the bridge has been out of service since the 1970s.

“Also, as the bridge is designed to close every January and February, this avoids the back-and-forth scenario of a brief autumn opening, closing for winter, and then reopening in the spring.”

Once completed, the project is expected to offer the nation’s first entertainment district on a bridge by adding shops and restaurants overlooking the river, with a pedestrian path connecting to Kansas levee-trails system and the Greenline Trail.

“This is a barn-raising effort to create something first here in Kansas City, with people from across the community pulling together to get it done,” said Zeller. “We can’t wait to celebrate with you all this spring — over the river!”

This story was originally published by Startland News, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.

Tommy Felts is editor-in-chief for Startland News, a Kansas City-based nonprofit newsroom that uses storytelling to elevate the region’s startup community of entrepreneurs, innovators, hustlers, creatives and risk-takers.
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