The Missouri Corrections and Public Institutions Committee gave its unanimous approval Thursday to a House bill that would give Jefferson City a small piece of land for riverfront access to Adrian's Island.
House Bill 1838, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, would give Jefferson City about 0.19 acres of land between the Senate Garage and Veterans Memorial for riverfront access to Adrian's Island, a 30-acre strip of land between the Missouri River and Union Pacific Railroad tracks that stretches from the Capitol to the former Missouri State Penitentiary.
The bill will go to the House floor for discussion.
Bernskoetter said the city needs that section of land to construct a 826-foot bridge leading down to the mile-long island.
Jim Crabtree, a member of the ad hoc committee fundraising for the project, said consultants looked at nine sites for the bridge, with this site being the best.
Residents currently cannot cross the railroad tracks, so the only way to access the island is by river. Bernskoetter said the city coordinated with Union Pacific to build a bridge over the tracks.
"We're founded as a river town, and the Capitol was established because of its location on the river," Crabtree said. "Yet the Union Pacific Railroad has become a physical barrier for people's access to the river. We're a river city without river access."
Crabtree said the bridge would be handicap-accessible and would accommodate emergency vehicles.
The project is estimated at $3.2 million, and an ad hoc committee has fundraised about $2.3 million, Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce President Randy Allen said. Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin said the committee will continue to fundraise as the bill progresses.
Crabtree said the money raised consists of private funds, and the city currently is not seeking grants for the project.
Part of that $2 million includes a $1 million donation from local philanthropist B.J. DeLong. Her one condition was the money could be used only for riverfront development.
The Jefferson City Housing Authority owns the island, Allen said last month, and the authority is ready to give the land to the city.
No one spoke in opposition of the bill during Thursday's hearing, and a couple of committee members said they thought the bridge would be an asset.
"I think it's a wonderful idea, and I just always said, 'Why can't we put some park benches out there and just watch the water go by?'" state Rep. Mary Nichols, D-Maryland Heights, said. "It's a thing of natural beauty in our state, and I think we're not utilizing that."
In past years, residents have expressed concerns about the area flooding. Engineering firm Bartlett & West uses 548 feet as the flood elevation; while some of the island would be underwater at that point, about 13 acres would be above that mark, Todd Kempker, project manager with Bartlett & West, has told the News Tribune previously. The bridge and most of the park would be located in that 13 acres.
Since 2000, the island has flooded five times for a total of 22 days - 0.34 percent of the time - Kempker said last month.
Permanent structures would not be constructed on the island nonetheless, Bernskoetter said.
After several years of discussing riverfront access, Tergin said she was pleased to see the bill's progress, taking the city one step closer to developing Adrian's Island.
City officials do not have specific details on the potential park's features, but Tergin told the News Tribune she hopes to have more information later this month.
Crabtree worked with architectural engineering firms for about 15 years and helped develop river access to communities, including St. Charles and Little Rock, Arkansas. He said the development benefited those communities and would do the same for Jefferson City because it would attract visitors to the downtown area and Capitol.
"When you look at 60,000 children visiting the Capitol and the access that bridge will provide either down to the river or for people to just walk out on the bridge and view the river, I think will be a tremendous asset," he said.