Riverwalk Crossing in Jenks holds its grand opening

<b><a class="headlinelink" href="http://www.kotv.com/main/home/searchKOTV.asp?mainSearch=Riverwalk Crossing">Riverwalk Crossing</a></b> is crossing into brave new territory as they become the first, big

Thursday, June 2nd 2005, 7:26 pm

By: News On 6

Riverwalk Crossing is crossing into brave new territory as they become the first, big retail development on the Arkansas River. They are holding their grand opening this week.

News on 6 business reporter Steve Berg says if you're familiar with this part of Jenks, along the Arkansas River, you know they have the old levee. Well, now they have a flood of businesses at Riverwalk Crossing.

Riverwalk Crossing has only been open for a few weeks and already, they're getting big crowds. The center features a mix of restaurants and shopping and it takes full advantage of the river by putting the parking in the back and facing all the shops toward the water.

Riverwalk Crossing developer Jerry Gordon says they tried to put in a lot of added flair with the architecture and the building materials, like the cobblestones on the plaza. He says it seemed like a risky idea to some and some thought this was the wrong side of the river to try development, but he says he didn't have much doubt. "When I saw the construction of the aquarium going up, it led to some thought and why don't we do something on the river? The design of it was a lot smaller, it was going to be a smaller center but the interest levels as we started putting it together kept growing and growing."

The grand opening continued Thursday night with a blues concert. It is the first in a 13-week series of concerts.