When, if ever, have you watched a competitive rowing event in person? Or enjoyed the creativity of plein air painting at 40 feet above a river? Or just sipped a cold one while wild ducks paddle below your feet?
We can now do these things and many more in a long-awaited fun new place, thanks to the imagination and indomitable spirit of one of Kansas City’s Northlanders.
The Rock Island Bridge Entertainment District is finally open to the public. And we have 1982 North Kansas City High School graduate Michael Zeller to thank.
The Rock Island Bridge is a former railroad bridge built in 1905 that crosses the Kaw River from the West Bottoms near the Hy-Vee Arena (formerly the Kemper Arena) into Kansas City, Kansas. Trains have not crossed the bridge since 1979, so it just sat there all rusted and ugly.
But one day, about 18 years ago, Michael, who now lives in Brookside, and some friends took a boat ride up the Kaw River. He remembers joking that someone ought to build a restaurant on the old bridge and name it Chicken on a Bridge.
As it turns out, Chicken on a Bridge is one of several yummy specialties at The River House, a 150-seat open-air restaurant on the bridge that features local favorites Arthur Bryant’s burnt ends, tacos with Spanish Gardens sauce, and steak soup from the Plaza III Steakhouse.
Arthur Bryant’s owner Andrew Miller and chefs Bradley and Brittany Gilmore of Lula’s Southern Cookhouse are coordinating their skills to bring a special flare to The River House and catered events in the upper level event space called the Royal Hall – a nod to the American Royal Livestock Show.
The bridge is technically owned by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County. Michael signed the lease in 2017 and has been hammering away at details and obstacles ever since. No one has ever done what he and his investors have done.
“We believe this to be the only entertainment district on a bridge above a river in the world,” Michael said. “We’ve said that enough times that if it’s not true, someone on the internet would have called us out.”
The Royal Bar at The River House is 55 feet long and Michael believes it is the longest in the metro. No one has called him out on that yet, either.
To get to this point, the levee on the Kansas side of the river had to be raised and the bridge itself was raised about three feet to accommodate new Corps of Engineers flood standards. In doing so, the engineering firm discovered that the original gears, installed in 1905, still worked perfectly. Other than a little rust, the bridge itself is in great shape.
Eventually, vines and other greenery will cover much of the rusty spaces, but the design team specifically want to showcase the history of the region by maintaining as much original construction as possible.
As the ivy grows, the bridge will host farmers markets, free concerts, makers spaces, art exhibits and more. The free wifi should satisfy everyone wanting to work away from the office for a day.
The second floor includes a private event space for weddings, corporate functions and the like. With so much complex engineering needed for a project like this, you would think that Michael has some sort of background in construction or engineering. That’s not the case.
For 17 years, he was the development director at KCPT. But that served him well in generating donors and investors to the project. Michael’s travels around the world also contributed to the motivation and vision of this unlikely project.
“In much of Europe, they talk about the power of constraints, the idea of building something within limited frameworks and how that fuels creativity,” he said. “In Copenhagen, instead of tearing down old grain elevators, they turned them into apartment buildings, and it works.”
Michael was also inspired by visits to New York, where an abandoned freight railway on Manhattan’s West Side has been developed into a very popular public park with gardens, art and green space known as the High Line.
The Rock Island Bridge is now a part of a nationwide group of infrastructure reuse projects called the High Line Network. The bridge is also a trail head for the Greenline, a 10-mile recreation trail around downtown KCMO and KCK. It connects to KCK’s 17 miles of levee top bike trails, so yes, you can ride your bike right through the first level of the entertainment district, grab a picnic lunch and continue on your way. Or stay for some music and a drink.
Even though the Rock Island Bridge is owned by the Unified Government, the only access to the bridge this fall is on the Missouri side via the West Bottoms near Hy-Vee Arena. By spring 2026, the KCK access should be complete.
The Rock Island Bridge will close in January and February.
For more information, go to rockislandkc.com
“We believe this to be the only entertainment district on a bridge above a river in the world."