RIVERDALE – This community is getting set to welcome the new John Welch Park today, Sept. 12, with a 7 p.m. dedication during a Riverdale City Council meeting at the Pleasant Valley Administration Center, at 525 Belmont Road, Riverdale.
Members of the Welch family are expected to attend the meeting.
During the meeting, city officials are expected to approve a resolution naming and dedicating an area known as RHK Trail to “John Welch Park” in honor and recognition of the Welch family that made Riverdale their home for over a century. They also were instrumental in the incorporation and initial administration of the city, according to a news release.
The release added that from 1867 continuously through 2017 the Welch family resided on and farmed the land in Riverdale now known as the Woods Estates subdivision. The Welchs were among the residents who signed the original Articles of Incorporation for the City of Riverdale in 1950. Albert Welch, the family’s patriarch, served on city council for 13 years and was fire chief for seven years.
In 2012, the Welch family sold the land located between the Deerbrook subdivision in Bettendorf, and the Pleasant Hills and subsequently established Woods Estates subdivisions in Riverdale to the City, until recently, the approximate 10 acres of land was left undeveloped.
Earlier this year, Riverdale resident and Eagle Scout candidate, Riley Kramer, undertook the job of installing a trail system throughout the parcel, and later named it RHK Trail.
