After a slow start, a grand vision is coming into focus for redeveloping the large area created on Moline’s riverfront by the new Interstate 74 Bridge and demolition of the old green bridge. The broad outline of a redevelopment plan for the large, former manufacturing corridor under, in and around the new bridge has been […]
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After a slow start, a grand vision is coming into focus for redeveloping the large area created on Moline’s riverfront by the new Interstate 74 Bridge and demolition of the old green bridge.
The broad outline of a redevelopment plan for the large, former manufacturing corridor under, in and around the new bridge has been years in the making. The planning process also was slowed by COVID-19 and an exodus of key top city staff.
Now that planning is back on track, however, it still is likely to be some time before Quad Citians will see many of the ambitious projects being envisioned for the area, development leaders caution.
In the end, however, they expect the community’s patience to be rewarded with a year-round redevelopment featuring one-of-a-kind elements that will make Moline’s riverfront stand alone. Among them, for example, are a skatepark and pump track nestled under the new bridge; a boat-up theater on the water; a rooftop restaurant and arts center in the old Spiegel building; a Great River Park and bike trail; and a newly created Mill Street Basin water feature crowded with shops, kiosks and attractions.
Those projects are part of an Interstate 74 Corridor Redevelopment Plan centered on four concepts:
- Mill Town Basin.
- Great River Park.
- Heart of the Arts development, and its anchor, the old Spiegel Building.
- Residential housing.