Public gets look at ‘Rebuild’ Rock Island plans

Plans to improve and update downtown Rock Island through a $7.3 million project were introduced to the public Tuesday night, June 27. And for the most part, they liked what they saw. More than 100 people attended a public feedback meeting at the Holiday Inn Rock Island to see and review plans for the Rebuild […]

Plans to improve and update downtown Rock Island through a $7.3 million project were introduced to the public Tuesday night, June 27. And for the most part, they liked what they saw. More than 100 people attended a public feedback meeting at the Holiday Inn Rock Island to see and review plans for the Rebuild Downtown Rock Island Project. That project largely focuses on streetscaping improvements throughout the Downtown Rock Island Historic District, located between First and Fourth avenues and 15th and 21st streets. 

1 of 5

Some of the proposed improvements include: reconstruction of the Second Avenue pedestrian mall; the addition of a gateway between the downtown business district and Schwiebert Riverfront Park; installing LED lights on the WHBF tower; construction of a dog park on 21st Street; parklets for outdoor dining; as well as public art installations, pop-up vendor stalls, landscaping and decorative lighting. If all goes according to plan, construction work on those downtown projects will begin next spring. The City of Rock Island, in partnership with the Rock Island Downtown Alliance, has worked with design and engineering firms Veenstra & Kimm and Streamline Architects on the  improvements. “We appreciate the excitement and energy in this room. …  The goal for downtown is to be welcoming to all,” Jack Cullen, executive director of the Rock Island Downtown Alliance, said during Tuesday’s meeting with an overflow crowd. In a news release issued before the meeting, Mr. Cullen added: “This is an exciting next step in the process of making major improvements to the core of downtown Rock Island. We believe this project has the potential to transform downtown for the better and are eager to share the updated plans with community members at this public meeting.” In fact, so many people showed up for the public input event that meeting organizers were busy  finding and setting more chairs to accommodate the crowd. Many members of that crowd said they liked what they saw and heard about the plans for downtown Rock Island. “I think it’s about time they did something to the downtown. … It’s going to help businesses,” said resident Nicole Velez as she left the meeting. Another attendee, Debbie Freiburg, called the improvement plans “wonderful and exciting.” “I like the whole picture. It’s creating a place to get more people to move here and where businesses want to be,” the Rock Island resident added. But not everyone at the meeting was impressed with the plans. A Rock Island businessman who asked not to be identified said he was not optimistic with the proposed improvements. He said similar improvements have been proposed in past years and never became a reality or never helped the downtown district. “It just sounds like a lot of the same ideas that haven’t worked before,” he added. During Tuesday’s meeting, officials with the Rock Island Downtown Alliance and the engineering firms Veenstra & Kimm and Streamline Architects received some on-the-spot opinions of the proposed plans through an online polling system, in which, members of the audience could use through their smartphones. Poll questions were given to the audience, who answered the questions through a text service or the website pollev.com/rebuildri. One poll question was “How likely are you to visit Second Avenue if these designs are incorporated?” The instance poll results shared during the meeting were: Very likely - 63%; Somewhat likely - 24%; Not very likely - 10%; and Never - 3%. In addition, those in attendance had a wide variety of questions and comments on the proposed improvements. They included: installing bicycle racks in downtown; the need for there to be input for local artists in the plans; turning one-way streets into two-way streets; improvements in getting minority-owned businesses into the downtown area; and questions on funding for the improvements. Officials said the $7.3 million for the proposed project comes from these sources: $3 million from State of Illinois Rebuild Downtown grant; $2.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act funds; $1.5 million from Downtown Tax Increment Financing District funds; $267,000 from State of Illinois Tourism Attraction grant; and $100,000 from the Illinois Casualty Company, whose headquarters are in downtown Rock Island. Meeting organizers also provided the public with a project timeline for the downtown improvements including these key dates and events:

• July 24: Results of the public input meeting presented at a Rock Island City Council meeting.
• Dec. 5: Council may approve the final drawings for the plans.
• Dec. 12: Project released for bids.
• Jan. 10, 2024: Bids are received and opened.
• Jan. 15: Council awards construction contract.
• Feb. 1: Preconstruction meeting.
• Early February: Downtown business information meeting.
• Early March: Construction begins.