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Friday, January 19, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Factory outlet opens in April
Sweater store will be in first of 55 tenants
Despite political opposition from various local groups, the Lawrence Riverfront Plaza is nearing completion.
By Chris Siron
Kansan staff writer
Construction of the Lawrence Riverfront Plaza is on schedule, and its developers anticipate a grand opening in April.
The 150,000-square-foot mall will contain about 55 factory outlets that sell name-brand goods for 40 to 60 percent less than retail prices, David Longhurst, representative for the Chelsea Group, developers of the plaza, said.
Longhurst declined to list companies that have committed to lease space in the mall because he said retailers that compete with outlets would be absent.
He confirmed, however, that the Peruvian Connection Factory Outlet, 600 Lawrence Ave., would move to the mall before the grand opening. Longhurst said he did not expect many other businesses to relocate to the mall because there were few factory outlets in Lawrence.
he said the New Jersey-based development group expected at least 75 percent of the mall's space to be leased by the grand opening. He said the mail would employ 250 to 350 people.
Stores in the mail would be allowed to open in March, Longhurst said, and some may do so to prepare their operations for the formal opening.
Ken Campbell, manager of Campbell's Clothing, 844 Massachusetts St., said he could not judge the impact of the mall until it opened. He
said he hoped the mall would draw new customers and create more traffic downtown.
campbell said he thought that many Lawrence customers would try the factory outlets out of curiosity, but that they would return to retail shops when they discovered that many factory outlets sold loffer or resected merchandise.
Longhunter said factory outlets do sometimes sell returned and irregul-
The mall will include the River City Market, a food court that will be run by John Joyce, former executive chef at the Barney Allis Plaza in Kansas City, Mo., and Linda Geren, former manager of the Heartland Market food court in the Crown Center Shopping Center in Kansas City, Mo.
lar merchandise, but only when it was clearly marked and sold separately.
By Kathryn Lancaster
Despite the construction of a new shopping center, bald eagles have not abandoned their nests along the Kansas River just east of the Bowersock Dam.
Kansan staff writer
in December, about 20 bald eagles were spotted near the Lawrence Riverfront Plaza, which is scheduled to have its grand opening in April.
The construction activity is not affecting the eagles, said Bob Wood, a terrestrial ecologist for the Environmental Services Section of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
"We're more worried about the increased public activity once the mall opens," he said. "I think it's been demonstrated this year that the eagles aren't paying attention to the mall."
The department worked with Lawrence officials and plaza developers to draft guidelines to protect the eagles before construction began. Department officials will continue to monitor the area after the plaza opens.
Eagles are better scavengers than hunters, but need open water to hunt and fish. The area just east of the dam is critical to the eagles since it is one of the few places in the area that rarely freezes.
"when it gets so cold that Perry and Clinton freeze over, the eagles move to the river," said Galen Pittman, board member of the Jayhawk
chapter of the National Audubon Society. "It's a great area for them below the dam because it's almost always open."
David Longhurst, representative for the Chelsea Group, developers of the plaza, said the eagles were relatively unaffected by plaza construc-
"The eagles are clearly back." Longhurst said. "There have even been eagles on the project site. It was a beautiful day, and we are pleased to see them back."
However, not everyone is convinced that the birds are out of danger.
Rita Robinson, Lawrence resident,
believes the shopping area will have
a negative impact on the eagles.
"It's insane," said Robinson, a member of Protect Our Eagles' Trees, a group that sued project developers to prevent them from tearing down trees in the area. "The fact that the trees are hide behind them they'll be here next year when the mall opens. The work they're doing now is mostly inside, and the work outside is away from the river."
The group's lawsuit was dismissed in March 1989 but members are waiting for a decision on an appeal, filed in Denver.
Meanwhile, plaza construction is nearly complete. Developers do not anticipate any problems with their feathered neighbors.
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