Kansas City might have one of the more unique entertainment venues in the country. The Rock Island Bridge opened on Wednesday. It’s a 700-foot, 121-year-old railroad bridge that was used to make trips to and from Kansas City’s stockyards across the Kansas River. A train hasn’t run on the bridge since the 1970s, and it sat unused until about 2017, when Michael Zeller started to work on a 10-year-old dream.“When you reinvent something, it forces you to be creative, right?” said Rock Island Bridge founder Micahel Zeller. “Because you just can’t start with a blank piece of paper. We had to start with the railroad bridge, which was really narrow, only about 17 ft wide.”From there, Zeller and his team built the bridge out, adding extra space along the edges of the bridge for more seating and better views of the Kansas River. “What seems kind of obvious to us all now took us several years to figure out, like how to make more space here with cantilevers going off the sides,” Zeller said.The first floor now includes a full restaurant with a grab-and-go food and drink window. There’s also plenty of space for outdoor seating and room for farmers’ markets, musical performances and other events.Zeller even went vertical, adding a second story to the bridge to create what can be used as an enclosed, private event space. Zeller said they’ve already had one wedding there and have more booked for the future.“The idea that we could go double-decker and then take the envelope, the outside skin of the enclosed space up over the top of the bridge there,” he said.Almost anywhere you look, you’re going to see a view out onto the Kansas River and surrounding area. Zeller said it’s a great vantage point to stop and linger with a book or work – you might even see some wildlife. “There’s eagles that patrol this river valley,” Zeller said. “There’s the jumping carp. Every time a boat comes by, they leap out of the water.”The history of the old bridge is easy to notice. Not only is the structure of the bridge a prominent part of the entire renovation, but there are nods to what is used to be. Pictures along the wall show a flood on the Kansas River that reached the bridge in 1951 and large sketches of the bridge from the early 1900s. The coolest nod to what the bridge used to be used for can be found in the second-floor bar. You can pull up a stool and rest your foot on the original railroad tracks that were saved when the renovations began.“You can belly up to the bar and rest your foot on the steel rail that floats a few inches off the ground,” Zeller said.Zeller said the history of the bridge is something that’s constantly on his mind. “This was a cow town,” Zeller said. “And this bridge has been standing here waiting to be reinvented. The last train went across this in 1979. So when you come out here, you’re really living and celebrating this Kansas City history.”With the grand opening on April 1, the Rock Island Bridge will be open seven days a week, March through December. Zeller is hoping this will reconnect people to the Kansas River and help them reimagine the old stockyards area. “We’ve just always thought of it differently in Kansas City because the stockyards were here,” Zeller said. “That’s all gone now. And this is the first step in reinventing this river as a place for recreation and more.”Zeller also sees it as an expansion of the West Bottoms. The Bridge is right across American Royal Drive from Hyvee Arena. “There’s 500 market-rate apartments,” Zeller said, pointing to new apartments near the bridge. “They’re going to build another 400 to the north. There’s docks that are coming on the river. There’s talk of some boating.”Not only is this a first-of-its-kind development for Kansas City, but it might be the first time something’s been done like this in the world. “To the best of our knowledge, no one has treated a bridge like land,” Zeller said. You can buy jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence, famously. And there’s some historic bridges in China, but we’ve not been able to find where someone’s brought all the utilities out and done land-like things. Like having a restaurant or a bar or event space, restrooms, things like that.”The Rock Island Bridge already has plans for community events like yoga, music and art pop-ups. You can find out more information on their website.
Kansas City might have one of the more unique entertainment venues in the country.
The Rock Island Bridge opened on Wednesday. It’s a 700-foot, 121-year-old railroad bridge that was used to make trips to and from Kansas City’s stockyards across the Kansas River.
A train hasn’t run on the bridge since the 1970s, and it sat unused until about 2017, when Michael Zeller started to work on a 10-year-old dream.
“When you reinvent something, it forces you to be creative, right?” said Rock Island Bridge founder Micahel Zeller. “Because you just can’t start with a blank piece of paper. We had to start with the railroad bridge, which was really narrow, only about 17 ft wide.”
From there, Zeller and his team built the bridge out, adding extra space along the edges of the bridge for more seating and better views of the Kansas River.
“What seems kind of obvious to us all now took us several years to figure out, like how to make more space here with cantilevers going off the sides,” Zeller said.
The first floor now includes a full restaurant with a grab-and-go food and drink window. There’s also plenty of space for outdoor seating and room for farmers’ markets, musical performances and other events.
Zeller even went vertical, adding a second story to the bridge to create what can be used as an enclosed, private event space. Zeller said they’ve already had one wedding there and have more booked for the future.
“The idea that we could go double-decker and then take the envelope, the outside skin of the enclosed space up over the top of the bridge there,” he said.
Almost anywhere you look, you’re going to see a view out onto the Kansas River and surrounding area. Zeller said it’s a great vantage point to stop and linger with a book or work – you might even see some wildlife.
“There’s eagles that patrol this river valley,” Zeller said. “There’s the jumping carp. Every time a boat comes by, they leap out of the water.”
The history of the old bridge is easy to notice. Not only is the structure of the bridge a prominent part of the entire renovation, but there are nods to what is used to be.
Pictures along the wall show a flood on the Kansas River that reached the bridge in 1951 and large sketches of the bridge from the early 1900s.
The coolest nod to what the bridge used to be used for can be found in the second-floor bar. You can pull up a stool and rest your foot on the original railroad tracks that were saved when the renovations began.
“You can belly up to the bar and rest your foot on the steel rail that floats a few inches off the ground,” Zeller said.
Zeller said the history of the bridge is something that’s constantly on his mind.
“This was a cow town,” Zeller said. “And this bridge has been standing here waiting to be reinvented. The last train went across this in 1979. So when you come out here, you’re really living and celebrating this Kansas City history.”
With the grand opening on April 1, the Rock Island Bridge will be open seven days a week, March through December. Zeller is hoping this will reconnect people to the Kansas River and help them reimagine the old stockyards area.
“We’ve just always thought of it differently in Kansas City because the stockyards were here,” Zeller said. “That’s all gone now. And this is the first step in reinventing this river as a place for recreation and more.”
Zeller also sees it as an expansion of the West Bottoms. The Bridge is right across American Royal Drive from Hyvee Arena.
“There’s 500 market-rate apartments,” Zeller said, pointing to new apartments near the bridge. “They’re going to build another 400 to the north. There’s docks that are coming on the river. There’s talk of some boating.”
Not only is this a first-of-its-kind development for Kansas City, but it might be the first time something’s been done like this in the world.
“To the best of our knowledge, no one has treated a bridge like land,” Zeller said. You can buy jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence, famously. And there’s some historic bridges in China, but we’ve not been able to find where someone’s brought all the utilities out and done land-like things. Like having a restaurant or a bar or event space, restrooms, things like that.”
The Rock Island Bridge already has plans for community events like yoga, music and art pop-ups. You can find out more information on their website.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kmbc.com ’
