Cooper’s Landing, the marina and campground a few river miles from Rocheport, is finally getting a building that can take a punch from the Missouri River. Owner Richard King told the COMO Business Times he plans to break ground this fall on a flood-resistant, two-story building made of concrete, steel and glass — built to survive the kind of surge that has hit the property six times since 1987, most recently in 2019, just days into King’s ownership.
King says Missouri River Relief helped with the long cleanup and restoration work after that 2019 flood, one of several partners who pitched in over the years King has owned the property. He’s better known locally for running the Blue Note, Rose Music Hall and the Roots N Blues festival — Cooper’s Landing was new territory. New septic systems went in about two years ago; the new main building is next, with demolition and foundation work expected to start in early October. The design comes from architect Stephen Bourgeois, who also designed the Les Bourgeois Blufftop Bistro.
For Rocheport-area readers, this matters because Cooper’s Landing is one of the closest full-service river stops to us — gas, food, a place to put in a boat — and it’s been running out of a building patched together since the last flood. A flood-proof rebuild means one less thing on our stretch of river that a wet spring can take out.