From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for May 27, 1988:

The Chelsea Group, an east coast development firm, announced plans this week to build a “theme-oriented, factory outlet shopping center” along the Kansas River. The 150,000-square-foot project, tentatively dubbed the “Kansas River Plaza,” was to be built on a site running from near the Kansas River bridge to about New York Street, a site now occupied by the Bowersock Mills & Power Co. Members of the Downtown Improvement Committee were enthusiastic about the project, calling it “intriguing” and “exciting.” Developers said that customers would park in a two-story garage north and east of the Reuter Organ building and would then walk through a glass-enclosed walkway over the Santa Fe railroad tracks to enter the three-story shopping center. The north face of the center would be all glass with an open promenade along the riverbank, offering a striking view of the Kansas River.