Sixty toes above the Kansas River, the Rock Island Bridge, a 121-year-old metal construction, unused because the Seventies, reopened to the general public this spring as a restaurant, bar, occasion corridor, and trailhead. The bridge connects the West Bottoms in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, to the Armourdale neighborhood in Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, with landings in each states. Its developer, the startup Flying Truss, calls it the primary leisure district constructed on a bridge over a river. The mission has drawn repeated comparisons to New York’s Excessive Line, whose reuse community the bridge joined in 2023.
The American Bridge Firm constructed the crossing in 1905 from Carnegie metal for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, which used it to maneuver livestock to the West Bottoms stockyards. Its three truss spans, two unique and a third added in 1921, run roughly 700 toes. Rail service ended within the Seventies, and the construction sat unused for about half a century.
That lengthy dormancy preserved it. As a result of the bridge by no means carried automobiles, it was by no means salted towards snow, and engineers from Thornton Tomasetti & TranSystems discovered the metal in sound situation. Structure agency Multistudio used that as its start line, widening the deck with structural metal and enclosing a 35-foot-tall occasion corridor dubbed the American Royal Corridor in polycarbonate panels that body the unique trusses.
“Strolling onto these previous bridges is like strolling right into a gothic cathedral,” Multistudio principal Dennis Strait stated.
The completed venue spans two ranges and roughly 35,000 sq. toes. It could possibly accommodate seating for greater than 300 and a capability of as much as 1,500 folks. The principle deck holds River Home, a restaurant from chef Bradley Gilmore, a walk-up window known as Rock Island Eats, and a public path; the higher deck holds American Royal Corridor and a second bar. To satisfy fashionable levee requirements, crews raised the bridge 4 toes utilizing its unique 1951 screw-lift gates.
The $20 million mission drew public, personal, and philanthropic funding. The Unified Authorities of Wyandotte County purchased the bridge from Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, for $1 in 2022 and leased it long-term to Flying Truss. Michael Zeller, a former PBS government, backed the redevelopment early on. He first leased the construction in 2018 after years of pitching the concept, and has projected 500,000 to 700,000 guests a 12 months.
The bridge is free to enter and cross, and it’s designated a trailhead for the deliberate Greenline KC loop. The reopening additionally lands in a World Cup summer time. With Kansas Metropolis among the many match’s host cities, the venue has added ten screens in American Royal Corridor for match viewing. A western entrance connecting to the Kansas levee trails is anticipated by late summer time, with the complete community due in spring 2027.
