Moline aldermen are expected Tuesday, Aug. 15, to begin considering hiring the city development leaders’ top pick from among 18 world-class landscape architectural and design firms who vied for the chance to reimagine Moline’s riverfront.
On Tuesday, a roundtable Moline City Council discussion is scheduled to allow designers with the Columbus, Ohio, landscape architecture and design firm MKSK to share their vision for remaking acres of mostly city-owned property. A council vote could come as early as Tuesday, Aug. 22, if aldermen follow a recommendation by Renew Moline and a panel of experts to work with MKSK’s Chicago office.
According to a release from the city, MKSK has created some of the most stunning riverfront developments in the United States. Among them are the Sciotto Mile in Columbus, Ohio, and the District Wharf Promenade in Washington, D.C.
The firm was one of 18 world-class design companies to respond this spring to a request for expressions of interest to take on the ambitious Moline riverfront master plan.
From the start, the city has said it is looking for a plan that is specifically tailored to Moline and the right designer capable of taking on what former Moline Community and Economic Development Director Ryan Hvitolk called a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to remake the city’s “billion-dollar front porch.”
“The caliber of firms we had proposing was extremely impressive,” Renew Moline President & CEO Alexandra Elias said in the city’s release.
“These are world-class design firms that do projects people would recognize. It truly allowed us to pick among the best in the nation,” added Ms. Elias who has been driving downtown and riverfront redevelopment efforts for years.
The panel that recommended MKSK included multiple Moline department directors, the city administrator and Renew Moline board members.
The more than 13 acres poised for redevelopment on Moline’s riverfront represents reclaimed land created in part by the construction of the new I-74 Bridge, and the removal of the old I-74 Bridge.
Ms. Elias said the firm’s track record for designing projects that reflect the unique characteristics of each of the communities it worked with stood out from the other contenders.
“We liked that their projects are geared toward the places they’re in and are not just cookie cutter,” she said. “They look at what matters to the people in the community and tailor the projects to that vision.”
Having the right plan in place for this massive redevelopment of the primarily city-owned area is critical, City Administrator Bob Vitas added.
“This is our one chance to get it right and we selected the firm we believe will do it right,” he said in the release. “This is a multi-generational project. We want this to become an active, beloved public space that is for everyone. It is ambitious and we meant for it to be ambitious.”
MKSK’s plan also spoke to the importance of making a “splash” with the first of what is likely to be many smaller projects within the overall masterplan, the release said. Those projects would join Moline’s new skate park and pump track in the works underneath the new Interstate 74 bridge. The future use of other landmarks such as the Kone Tower, Spiegel Building and BridgePointe 485 must also be determined.
At the Aug. 15 Moline City Council meeting, Ms. Elias said she will provide information about the completed planning work to date along with MKSK’s near-term plans and its timeline for Moline’s master plan rollout.
