Chuck Lahmeyer has made his way down to the Missouri Veterans Memorial several days a week for the better part of 10 months.
He, along with others who made the same trip, watched as crews drilled holes, erected pillars, moved lengths of steel and laid concrete.
Day by day, these observers watched the Bicentennial Bridge go from a wish-list item to a reality.
Lahmeyer was also part of the first public group to cross the 765-foot bridge that starts between the Senate parking garage and the Missouri Veterans Memorial, and spans across the Union Pacific railroad tracks to Adrian's Island.
"I've snuck across a couple of times," he said. "One time, I bluffed my way across. There were two workmen there, and nobody working on the bridge, so I put it straight to the workmen. I said, 'Would you call the cops if I walk across the bridge?' And they're like, 'I don't think so.' So, I walked across the bridge."
The bridge in Jefferson City officially opened to the public Monday afternoon. Work continues on the Debra Cooper Park on Adrian's Island, but several concrete walking paths are laid.
Officials said crews should finish the park in spring. It will include a pavilion, hammock space, giant chess board and dirt trails into the woods.
The park and bridge are decades in the making.
The island results from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' rock dikes built along the Missouri River in the 1960s to maintain a 9-foot minimum channel depth.
In 1965, Harry Adrian started the effort to acquire the island.
In 1974, he donated the island to the Jefferson City Housing Authority. Already, officials were discussing a way to access the island, such as a tunnel under the Union Pacific railroad tracks or a bridge over them.
Funding proved to be an issue for either plan.
However, that's where Jefferson City resident B.J. DeLong comes in. She donated $50,000 in 2015 to get a project going and to get a design for the bridge. She wanted to see a riverfront access point in her lifetime.
Delong made another donation in 2018 for $3.2 million to go toward the bridge.
"I'm reflecting on BJ and remembering the day when we were in a fashion show together, fundraising for charity -- like she always did," Mayor Carrie Tergin said Monday. "She took me aside and she said very clearly, 'I have this money and want to build this bridge.' We made it happen."
DeLong didn't see the bridge completed as she died in July. However, she could see it get started and took part in the groundbreaking.
The bridge cost around $4.9 million, but some last bills are still getting figured out, City Engineer David Bange said.
He worked as the primary point person for the city on the Bicentennial Bridge. Bange said seeing people excited about it kept him dedicated to the project.
"For me, seeing those people and the excitement on their face and their interest in the project really helped to get through the bumps and hurdles that we had as we built this bridge," he said.
Lahmeyer said he remembers being a child when the island was just a sandbar.
"The first thing that happened was the sandbar grew up to 1,000 little trees," he said. "It looked like a lawn and pretty soon the whole island was covered in green things."
While Lahmeyer was interested in the bridge as an electrical engineer, he said he was also interested in it because Jefferson City is his home.
"I have hoped they would give us access to the island for years and years," he said. "It's wonderful. Just simply wonderful. I don't quite know how to say it."