Mike Calwell was there that day. In fact, he and his wife, Laura -- and their work with the Friends of the Kaw -- had brought Kennedy to the gritty industrial bottoms just east of Kansas City, Kansas. Since then, the couple have been working to turn that forgotten spot into a historic destination where residents and tourists can explore the 1804 landing of Lewis and Clark.
After this weekend, they're mighty close to declaring: mission accomplished.
On Friday, Jason mentioned the activity at Kaw Point Park this weekend. So using any excuse to hang out near the river, I thought I'd check it out. The last time I was at this notoriously dead-fish-smelling confluence was last summer for the start of the Missouri River 340 kayak race, when racers had their gear shoehorned among the trees and weeds and struggled to get past each other along a claustrophobically narrow path.
On Sunday, the place looked entirely different.
Now that problem has been solved -- and then some.
A dozen volunteers were still putting the finishing touches on the new rock structures as Calwell regaled me with even grander vision for the historic landing sight. A paved trail out to the point. A 600-pound statue of Lewis and Clark that was donated to Friends of Kaw Point but kept in storage finally placed on display. Rows of stones in front of the stage tagged with the names of every person in the Lewis and Clark party.
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I sure wish we had access to the Kansas River at the Kansas Ave bridge so we could canoe that section in the heart of our city. It would be safer and more enjoyable than putting in at the Edwardsville ramp and floating to Kaw Point Park. It's a great unused resource just sitting there. If the right people saw our city from this advantage point, they'd find a way to get it done.
This is a great destination to ride your bike. From the east, you get on the Riverfront Heritage Trail that takes you through the west bottoms, across the bicycle bridge and turn right, go about a mile to where the sign is. Hardly any traffic on the weekends.
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