$8.7M downtown Rock Island work to start April 16

The long-planned $8.7-million rebuilding plan for downtown Rock Island will start attacking the streets on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, with reconstruction expected to be done by December.

“We’re so excited for this project to happen, there’s no doubt about that,” Mayor Mike Thoms said Wednesday afternoon at a pre-construction update at The Stern Center, with representatives of the city, Rock Island Downtown Alliance, architects, engineers, general contractor, as well as businesses and residents.

“During the construction, it’s gonna be a bit of a pain, but the end result is going to be outstanding,” the mayor said, noting the downtown plans date back to 2015. “It’s the biggest investment that’s happened in many, many years,” Thoms said, noting one goal is to improve the downtown appearance to help attract businesses to fill empty buildings.

Jack Cullen, executive director of the Rock Island Downtown Alliance, said they started fundraising and putting plans together in spring 2021, and the general contractor will be Valley Construction of Rock Island.

Cullen reviewed the overview of project work. The three phases are:

• Phase 1 – 18^th Street from 1^st to 3^rd avenues; 3^rd Avenue from 18^th to 19^th Street, and 2^nd Avenue from 18^th to 19^th, to start April 16 and projected completion in November/December.

• Phase 2 – Intersections of 19^th Street and 2^nd Avenue, and 19^th and 3^rd, to start in October, finished in December.

• Phase 3 — Arts Alley reconstruction, in 1700 block of 2^nd Avenue, starting in June, and finished in July.

New landscaping, lighting, welcome signage and arches will not be erected until spring 2025. Also in 2025, the city is planning to reduce 1st Avenue (Illinois 92) to one lane each direction and turn lane into downtown, as separate from the Rebuild downtown project, Cullen said.

The work includes complete reconstruction of streets, new sidewalks, new utilities (water and sewer lines), and streetscape improvements including streetlights, trees, benches, trash receptacles, public green space, gateway signage, and outdoor patios.

There will be a major gateway arch placed at 1^st Avenue and 18^th Street.

A new mini-roundabout will be put at the intersection of 18^th and 2^nd, to enhance pedestrian and vehicle safety, as well as “serve as this central focal point, symbolizing the true historic center of our downtown,” Cullen said.

There’s a new green space proposed for 2nd Avenue and 18^th Street, to replace an existing parking lot next to the former Blue Cat Brew Pub. It will be a flexible, mixed-use space to be used by the community, Cullen said.

He emphasized that businesses will remain open during construction, and all the partners will work hard to keep everyone informed about the status of work. That includes inviting people to sign up for a bi-weekly e-newsletter, and holding monthly meetings with stakeholders throughout the process.

“Thank you in advance for your patience, collaboration and teamwork,” Cullen said. “That’s what public-private partnerships are all about.”

Jason McKenzie of the engineering firm Veenstra & Kim, spoke about making sure communications are clear, consistent and frequent among all affected parties. Construction work will primarily be weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Aaron Lubitz of Valley Construction noted the first steps are demolition of existing streets, and work underground. “We got to get from low to high,” he said, adding that will take the first two months.

Available city-owned parking during construction will be:

• City lot at 3^rd Avenue between 17^th 18^th streets

• City lot near bus station at 2^nd Avenue and 19^th

• 2^nd Avenue between 17^th and 18^th

• West side of 19^th Street between 1^st and 2^nd

• South side of 2^nd Avenue between 19^th and 20^th

• 19^th Street from 2^nd to 3^rd

• North side of 3^rd Avenue between 19^th and 20^th

• City lot on southwest corner of 3^rd and 17^th

• 18^th Street between 3^rd and 4^th avenues

• 19^th Street between 3^rd and 4^th

The city and Downtown Alliance are working to get leases on future available parking owned by Modern Woodmen for their lots at 1^st Avenue and 17^th Street, and southeast corner of 2^nd and 20^th Street. These are not available now.

All improvements are to be completed by June 2025, Lubitz said.

Denny Hitchcock, owner of Circa ’21, asked if there will be a net loss of parking spaces with the project.

Lubitz said there will naturally be loss of on-street parking during construction, but they’re working to minimize impacts.

Hitchcock also asked if there will be financial assistance available to businesses for lost revenue because of construction.

“We are working with the city, talking about possible funds to help with business interruption, impacted businesses during construction of the project,” Cullen said. “We don’t have anything concrete, but we are exploring it. So stay tuned and hopefully we will be able to find some additional funds for that.”

McKenzie said work on rebuilding 2^nd Avenue (including tearing out the pedestrian plaza for a new road and wider sidewalks) will be done first, but portions of 2^nd and 3^rd will be done together.

Picking Arts Alley artists

While not part of the Valley contract, the revitalization of Arts Alley, 1719 2^nd Ave., will be done concurrently, including painting of huge new murals on each wall.

Quad City Arts received over 400 artist submissions from around the world to create two new outdoor murals at Arts Alley, next to its downtown Rock Island building. Representatives of the Rock Island Arts Commission and Downtown Alliance board narrowed down the potential artists to 10 finalists, based on their mural samples (including most recent completed), artist bio and work experience, Quad City Arts executive director Kevin Maynard said Thursday.

“It was incredibly difficult,” he said of picking finalists, who each will be paid $500 to submit specific Arts Alley designs by the end of the month. “We had over 400 submissions in the process – that’s up significantly from what we did in Moline.”

Quad City Arts expects to display the proposed 10 designs (including one from a local artist chosen) at their downtown gallery (1715 2^nd Ave.), and one or two other downtown businesses, to collect public feedback.

They hope to make a selection of two artists (or teams) by early May and the murals done in June, Maynard said.

“It’s really hard. Even though we narrowed it down to 10, there are some really impressive artists that didn’t make that cut,” he said. “If we had an ample amount of money, we would be bringing even more artists in.”

The payments for the Arts Alley artists will be:

• Mural 1: $33,600 (80 feet x 28 feet)

• Mural 2: $27,000 (60’ x 30’)

Other improvements to Arts Alley (after murals are done) will include a decorative walkway, lighting and signage; space for social gatherings and performances; weatherproof vendor stalls for seasonal pop-up shop programs; and additional art installations.

You can see more renderings on all downtown improvements HERE.

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