One year after opening its doors inside Tanger Kansas City at Legends, the immersive attraction Atlas 9 is marking its anniversary with a free outdoor screening of Back to the Future, a live performance, and discounted $9 admission to its indoor experience through Friday. The 46,000-square-foot venue at 1100 N. 98th St. in Kansas City, Kansas, has spent its first year building a reputation well beyond the metro, drawing visitors from as far as Omaha, Nebraska.
The celebration unfolds across two days. According to The Kansas City Star, Atlas 9 will host an artists' panel discussing its sculptures and designs beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, followed Friday by the free outdoor movie event, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. and Back to the Future starting at 7:30 p.m. on the side of the building. No tickets are required for the screening, and performance troupe Quixotic will perform live before the film begins.
Atlas 9 co-founder Tucker Trotter told the Star that the attraction has been embraced more enthusiastically than he and his team expected. Trotter credited the staff and performers at Dimensional Innovations, the Overland Park-based experience design firm that created Atlas 9, for much of that success, saying the people behind the scenes show pride, excitement and passion in their work.
A Story World Built Around a Fictional 1990s Theater
Atlas 9 presents itself as a fictional 1990s movie theater, with a story centered on a projectionist and a mad scientist who creates a mysterious projector. Visitors use an RFID-activated wristband to solve puzzles throughout the space, which includes a retro movie theater setup alongside interactive games, videos and AI-powered experiences, per the same Star report.
Caleb Holder, managing director of day-to-day experiences at Atlas 9, said the attraction is designed to be more than a one-visit experience. The venue periodically changes its rooms, performances and games, and Atlas 9 still has empty rooms that have not yet been revealed to the public. The team has also developed an easier version of its central game for visitors who want a lighter challenge, the Star reported.
National Recognition Follows a Six-Year Build
Atlas 9's first year has come with national validation. USA Today readers named it the No. 2 Best New Attraction in the country in 2026, according to the Star's reporting, a ranking that built on earlier recognition detailed by Kansas City Magazine in its USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice coverage earlier this year.
The attraction's roots stretch back to 2020, when Dimensional Innovations' leadership conceived the project during pandemic shutdowns that had disrupted traditional design work, according to a release distributed via PR Newswire. Atlas 9 officially opened to the public on September 18, 2025, after a six-year development process. The $26.7 million project was built out over 14 months by DI Build, which served as the primary construction partner overseeing structural work and audiovisual installations, according to DI Build's own project documentation.
The finished venue was a joint effort among four entities — Dimensional Innovations, Homefield, Swell Spark and performance troupe Quixotic — and involved artistic contributions from more than 250 local and regional creatives, as reported by KC Studio. The space includes more than 70 interactive touchpoints, a 1940s-style jazz club, a hidden speakeasy bar, a 240-seat auditorium with projection mapping, and a pizza parlor.
Part of a Booming National Industry
Atlas 9's growth mirrors a broader surge in immersive entertainment spending nationally. U.S. consumer spending on immersive entertainment reached roughly $33 billion in 2023 and is projected to climb to $122 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research data cited in the PR Newswire release. Locally, Kansas City's nonprofit arts and culture sector generates more than $615 million in annual economic activity while supporting over 9,000 regional jobs, per the same release.
The attraction sits inside Tanger Kansas City at Legends, an open-air shopping complex in Wyandotte County that was rebranded following its $130 million acquisition by Tanger, according to KSNT 27 News. Trotter has described Atlas 9 as drawing visitors well beyond the metro, including a significant fan base making repeat trips from Omaha.
Normally, admission to Atlas 9's indoor experience ranges from $29 to $45, but the anniversary celebration includes $9 admission through Friday. Dimensional Innovations, the firm behind the project, has deep roots in the Kansas City area, having previously designed the giant Community Bookshelf exterior wall at the downtown Kansas City Public Library — still a landmark today — along with design elements for CPKC Stadium.
