Multiple food and drink options will soon be available at one site in downtown Topeka.
Chris Schultz, owner of the building at 909 S. Kansas Ave., on Friday unveiled his concept for a new food court to city officials, members of the community and neighboring businesses, dubbing it Cosmos Court.
Schultz said he feels great about the plan, considering all of the hard work that went into it.
"To be here today, to be able to share this moment with these people and to be able to say: 'Look, this is what's happening.' That's incredibly exciting to me," Schultz said. "And it makes me even more excited to think about how when construction is done, we're going to be able to share this kind of feeling. This connectivity with people, every day."
Schultz said he hopes to open in October or November of this year when construction is complete.
What is included in Cosmos Court?
The new mini food court will include Build-A-Bev (fountain drinks), Alf's Sweets and Sundries, Mom's Soups and Spuds, Cosmos Pizza, Schultzy's Slushes, The Break Room and Field of Greens.
Options include nachos, hotdogs, salads, baked potatoes, soups and sweets.
"We're bringing it all here to Kansas Avenue every single day," Schultz said, "and we're doing it for all you to be able to come down here and have an experience of your imagination to enjoy."
As construction progresses, Schultz will add Club Cosmos — a bar and nightclub — to the back of the facility. A new façade is on the horizon.
"It'll be a place where you can sit down and have dinner," Schultz said. "You know, it'll be a place where you can enjoy more of a dining area than what we have in this space."
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Logan LaRocque, an employee at the new food court, said he's excited to be part of the food court team.
"I think it's going to be wonderful," LaRocque said. "I think it's going to be one of the situations where we're doing something unique, inventive and something that people haven't seen before and will very much enjoy."
Former Field of Greens closed its doors in March 2020
The 909 S. Kansas building was previously home to Field of Greens. It closed its doors on March 15, 2020, two days after a national emergency was declared for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schultz opened the restaurant in 2002, and he and his brother Frank purchased the building in 2008. Field of Greens offered a 50-item salad bar, soups, sandwiches and a baked potato bar five days a week.