Moline residents see 3 finalist plans for new riverfront

Moline residents are helping “create the spark” for a new vibrant riverfront area in the city. About 100 Moline residents provided that spark by attending the “Love the River” celebration on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 10, at Mercado on Fifth, 423 12th Ave. The two-hour event featured snacks, drinks, family portraits and activities for children. But […]

Moline residents are helping “create the spark” for a new vibrant riverfront area in the city. About 100 Moline residents provided that spark by attending the “Love the River” celebration on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 10, at Mercado on Fifth, 423 12th Ave.

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The two-hour event featured snacks, drinks, family portraits and activities for children. But the centerpiece of the event focused on helping city, business and urban planning officials plan for new riverfront features for downtown Moline, near the new Interstate 74 bridge. That new Moline riverfront plan focuses on creating a new riverfront area with many amenities in the area bordered by the Mississippi River, Seventh Avenue on the south, 23th Street to the east and 18th Street on the west. A secondary area expands the area east to Moline’s 25th Street. “The construction of the new I-74 bridge presents a unique opportunity to redevelop areas of downtown Moline that once laid under the existing interstate highway. This process, building on years of planning and input, will result in a thoughtful and creative integration of development, open space and associated infrastructure,” according to information from the City of Moline. The updated riverfront plan — led by the City of Moline, Renew Moline and a multidisciplinary planning team MKSK Studios  — aims to create a compelling vision and implementation plan for a re-imagined Moline riverfront, according to the city.  At Saturday’s event, residents were told: “This is to create the spark for the riverfront. … We want to shape the riverfront around your needs,” said Brett Weidl, principal landscape architect for MKSK, the Columbus, Ohio-based urban design and architectural firm working with the city on the riverfront plan. Saturday’s “Love the River” gathering largely focused on MKSK officials presenting three finalist plans for the Moline riverfront, and getting feedback from residents. If all goes according to plan, a final riverfront plan will be presented to the Moline City Council in July. Construction may start at some unknown point in a few years, but officials don’t know when new riverfront features might start to become reality.  “There are just too many things that have to fall in place before we can schedule it,” Moline Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati said during Saturday’s gathering. Even though there is no timeline in place to start work on the riverfront, Ms. Weidl said one of her top goals is to get at least one big riverfront feature – perhaps a renovated building –started so it can spur interest in getting more riverfront projects done in the coming years. All three finalist plans, which focus on the area west of the I-74 bridge, look at bringing family-friendly events, restaurants and recreational activities to the downtown area. Also, all plans focus on a theme of creating a “Gateway” area in Moline to welcome tourists and area residents to visit the riverfront and take part in many fun, historic, nature-themed and educational activities, said Ms. Weidl. “A lot of this is really about reconnecting with the Mississippi River,” said Donny Zellefrow, an associate with MKSK. But the three finalist plans also have differing themes. Here is a look at the three plans presented:

• Plan 1: This is called the “Native and Naturalistic” plan. Some of the features of this plan include trails, floating boardwalks, natural systems, nature-inspired activities and natural systems. 
• Plan 2:  This is called the “Seasonal Playground” plan. Some of the features include recreation activities, sports, health and wellness, movement and seasonal activities, such as play zones and a skating rink.
• Plan 3: This is called the “Food and Farm” plan. Some of the features include ag heritage events, manufacturing history, connection to the land and community events.

After MKSK officials showed the three plans on Saturday, Moline residents got to look over information boards on each of the plans and ask lots of questions. “This is a great step in the right direction,” Angie Rule, of Moline, said as she looked over the three plans. “They brought this to a level where we can see it and understand it.” Ms. Rule added that she liked different aspects of all three plans, and wanted city and MKSK officials to know her views by placing a vote on the plans. In addition to looking over boards that outlined the three plans, people were given stickers to place next to categories on each board to express their opinions on the plans. For instance, near the end of the Saturday event, there were 10 stickers placed on the Plan 1 board next to the sentence that read: “I like it.” Two stickers were placed next to “This is the one.” Plan 2 had nine stickers next to “This is the one” and six stickers next to “I like it.” Plan 3 had stickers placed in all five categories: One sticker was on the “This is the one” sentence, six stickers at “I like it,” two stickers at “It’s OK,” four stickers at “It could be better” and three stickers at “It’s not for me.” In addition to the stickers, participants also placed a series of notes next to boards outlining the three final plans. Some of those notes included:

• Plan 1 note: “Drive people to choose Moline instead of Bettendorf/Davenport with unique offering(s). Zipline, island access, climbing wall in Kone Tower, skating rink.
• Plan 2 note: “Don’t need more bars. More family-friendly eating and drinking (places), less fancy dining.”
• Plan 3 note: “Would love to see more for those of us who boat. The current docks are not easily used.”

Ms. Weidl said she appreciated getting all the public feedback and added it shows “there is great momentum here” for upgrading the riverfront. Ms. Rayapati also was pleased that many residents were giving feedback on the three finalist plans, and saw many positive features for the riverfront ideas. “I just loved the presentation today. They did their research,” she added. Moline residents can still express their views on the riverfront plans by taking an online survey located here. (People may fill out this online survey until Feb. 26.) Also, more community events will be held in the spring to show off the three final riverfront plans and get public input, said Ms. Weidl. City and MKSK officials added they want to see more opinions from the public. In fact, one MKSK challenged the audience on Saturday to add to the plans to make the riverfront a place future generations will use and appreciate. “Think big about this space,” added Mr. Zellefrow.