OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — After four years and 72 complete acres later, Heartland of America Park and Lewis & Clark Landing are now open.
"We don't have the mountains, we don't have the ocean, we don't have 365 days like this morning..." said Mogens Bay with the Downtown Riverfront Trust.
But we do have the Riverfront.
The park gates opened at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, welcoming guests to enjoy all of the new additions. Then, the celebration began with a ribbon cutting.
"The architecture is really beautiful, I think the view of the buildings down here, and that you can see Iowa, and the accessibility to other areas is really nice," said Aspen Mlaboy who was visiting with work friends.
People from in and around Omaha were eager to check it out.
"This park is just a wonderful addition to my life downtown," said Dean Bard, who's lived downtown since 2006.
The $325 million project features a skate ribbon, a 100,000 square foot lawn space, a lakeside amphitheater, a scenic overlook, volleyball courts and more! This has been a long time coming as MECA said the space will transform the city's urban core.
"We can't wait to see how people utilize this park and start to make memories in," said Katie Bassett, the vice president of parks with MECA.
Omaha natives like Joan Reilly, who's lived downtown for 22 years, are ready to spend quality time with her grand children here.
"We've been very anxiously awaiting. We love the Luminarium, we love the Leahy, and this is a great addition. It makes it a destination for everybody," she said.
While the space is now open to the public, there is still some construction underway, so visitors should keep an eye out for some final touches.
For the full weekend schedule visit our link here.
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