12 August 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – New businesses are coming to downtown Topeka. The city’s newest food court held a groundbreaking event Friday morning.
Community members got their first taste of what’s going to be ‘Cosmos Court’ on Friday morning. The historic Tinkham Veale building on Kansas Avenue used to be ‘Field of Greens’ restaurant owned by Chris Schultz, but it closed during the pandemic. Now, Schultz is revamping his business in the shape of a food court.
“What you’re seeing here today inside is how I day-by-day got up, kept myself going, with the hope we were going to be able to open this place again,” Schultz said. “To have all these people standing in here today with me and to be here to be able to say ‘this is happening’ is one of the coolest moments of my life.”
He says Cosmos Court will feature a revived ‘Field of Greens’ salad bar, along with build-your-own options for pizza, nachos, soft serve treats and more.
“We looked at a lot of the things that weren’t available downtown and we looked at a lot of the needs that needed to be filled,” Schultz said. “We spent plenty of time working that out and trying to figure out how we can best serve the need of this downtown area. And right now is the best time for the growth of downtown, best time to be downtown.”
Schultz told 27 News Friday’s event was a sneak-peak for what’s to come after the food court is complete. Schultz Management plans to reconstruct parts of the historic building, including installing a new roof and new façade. According to Schultz, construction will start as soon as possible.
He expects Cosmos Court to be serving the public as early as Oct. or Nov.