The MidAmerican Energy Adventure Tower and the Charles E. Lakin Pier are on schedule for completion this June along the Council Bluffs Riverfront.
Grow Omaha toured the two structures this week along with Pete Tulipana, president and CEO of Southwest Iowa Nonprofit for Collective Impact (SINC), which is developing the projects, and representatives from Lueder Construction, the general contractor.
Omaha-based HDR designed both projects. Construction first began in November 2024.
The tower is 138 feet tall and located just north of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The pier is under construction between Interstate 480 and Harrah’s Casino.
The MidAmerican Energy Adventure tower is nestled among Missouri River cottonwood trees on the wet side of the levee. The tower is accessible from the Bob Kerrey bridge via an elevated walkway known as the Treetop Walk.
The tower is being built above the flood zone, at the levee system’s elevation, to allow opportunities for use when the Missouri River levels fluctuate. The structure is supported by piles driven into bedrock and designed for flood conditions, including the potential impacts from ice and other floating debris.
The tower has multiple levels. The third floor is accessible from the Treetop walk and has a concession stand, restrooms, elevators, the entrance to a simulated caving experience and the base of the rock-climbing walls.
The ninth floor is the launching point for the roller glide ride, which starts 120 feet above the ground. The ride provides a roller coaster effect as riders roll down to the finishing point on third floor. The ride has dual lanes, so friends can race each other to the ride’s completion. Guests experience the ride in a harness. Tulipana described it as “a glorified zip line but on a rail.” The only other roller glide ride of similar design is in Tennessee.
The tenth floor offers a 360-degree observation deck with stunning views of Council Bluffs, the river valley and the Omaha skyline.
Once the project is complete, SINC will turn the facility over to the City of Council Bluffs. Approach Climbing Gym of Omaha has been chosen to manage the tower’s attractions and activities. The tower’s rock-climbing wall reaches 50 feet and will qualify as a pre-Olympic speed climbing site. Climbers can scale multiple sides of the building.
A few blocks to the south, the Charles E. Lakin Pier starts on the Council Bluffs levee trail and stretches west over the River Service Road, eventually extending beyond the Missouri River bank. It provides some of the very best views of Omaha’s skyline.
The pier has four separate nodes that Tulipana describes as the garden, playground, living room and classroom. The “garden” sits at the pier’s east entrance. It will have several planters that will use modular irrigation. Because there’s no city water service to the pier, irrigation water will be stored in tanks that must be refilled by the city every few weeks.
As you walk out onto the expansive pier, you come upon the “playground” section, which has amenities for kids to climb. Next up is the “living room,” an area of the pier with seating benches covered by a pergola. Finally, as you approach the very end of the pier as it juts over the water, you encounter the “classroom,” tiered seating looking over the river toward downtown Omaha. Tulipana envisions teachers bringing students to the seating area during field trips.
Because the pier sits in a flood plain, the support structure required some heavy-duty engineering. The pier is supported by four pilings. Three of them are 7 feet in diameter, while the fourth one is 10 feet in diameter. Each one reaches 100 feet into the ground to hit bedrock. The 10-foot support alone contains 300 yards of concrete and 25 tons of reinforcing steel.
The tower and pier together cost $60 million, which was raised from 20 donors. The Iowa West Foundation was the lead donor. Both facilities will be open year-round, but some of the tower amenities will be closed when the weather is unfavorable.
When they open early this summer, the two projects will greatly enhance the riverfront experience on the Iowa side, but River’s Edge Park will still not be done.
Tulipana said construction should begin in the spring of 2027 on a destination playground just north of Interstate 480 pending approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Such approval is necessary given the proximity to the Missouri River.
Photo above by Brad Williams
