Park work spans Missouri River

Council Bluffs Parks Director Larry Foster apparently isn't a man to leave a job half-done.

Foster, who also spent years with the Omaha Parks and Recreation Department, was involved in developing Omaha's side of the river, including the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.

He visited the Omaha Northwest Rotary on Tuesday to discuss River's Edge Park, a new 85-acre park planned for the Bluffs' side of the river.

“There were a lot of things I liked about taking the Council Bluffs job,” Foster said in an interview following his speech.

“The mayor and the council giving me the opportunity to work on the riverfront is wonderful. And sure, it's a blessing to be able to be a part of something on both sides,” he said.

Foster was stepping in for scheduled Rotary speaker Tom Hanafan, the Council Bluffs mayor.

“One of the reasons I retired was I thought I'd never work on another project that was as wonderful as the pedestrian bridge,” Foster said. “Whether you liked it or you didn't at the beginning, I think you have to share the feeling today that it's an icon . . . and it was a wonderful project.”

Where the Omaha side of the river “has a certain look of a more urban park,” the Iowa side will be “much more natural. That's been one of the guiding lights of our design process,” he said.

The park will stretch from an undeveloped area north of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge to Harrah's Casino & Hotel on the south.

Foster talked about aspects of the project that included a riverside beach, an ampitheater and other features.

“We're truly building a facility here that's metropolitan in its scope and breadth, and there is such a partnership between the two cities on the riverfront,” he said.

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