The new park under construction in Downtown Rock Island, along the Mississippi River between 17th and 19th Streets, has officially been named Schwiebert Riverfront Park. The park will include a main stage area and great lawn that mimics the Armory’s footprint. The park will also include a water feature, an observation shelter, riverfront promenade, rain garden, playground equipment, urban beach, restrooms, parking, and flood protection. The park will include green space, plants, and trees, along with some hard surfaces. Click here to see the final design plans for the park.

The park is anticipated to be completed in 2010. Work is underway now to plan events and activities for once the park opens, along with planning for the maintenance of the park. Creating this riverfront park is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reconnect residents to our number one tourist attraction, the Mississippi River.

Planning for the Park
The park was named Schwiebert Riverfront Park to recognize Mark Schwiebert, former mayor of Rock Island for twenty years, for his commitment to returning Rock Island's Mississippi riverfront to public space and a beautiful new park.

An important element of the RiverVision Plan in Rock Island is development of the riverfront park, approximately one-fifth mile of river frontage adjacent to downtown. Much of the area was formerly used to support a riverboat gaming operation, which has now relocated to the City’s southwest area, at the interchange of IL-92 and I-280. After reviewing many options, holding a series of meetings to gain public comment in 2005-06, and refining the plans, City Council selected a preferred concept to move forward with design and development in February 2008.

The City started working with Schreiber /Anderson Associates Inc. to design concepts for the riverfront park in 2004. Sub-contractors for the design include: Stanley Consultants for structural engineering and permitting, Gere ~ Dismer Architects as architects, KJWW Engineering Consultants as electrical engineer, and WESCO Fountain, Inc. for fountain mechanicals.

As part of the preparations for the park, the Rock Island Armory was demolished in 2009. The park honors the Armory that served as a sentinel on the riverfront for more than 70 years and provided space for numerous events such as ice skating performances, concerts, and the circus.

The park has several project goals:

• Maximize use and flexibility of the green.
• Iconic space on river.
• Aesthetically pleasing, creative design.
• Water access - physical & visual.
• Public boat docks.
• Retain flood control.
• Capture river views.
• Meet park programming needs.
• Linkage to downtown and The District.
• Enhance downtown and riverfront redevelopment opportunity.
• Flood Protection

The north façade of the Armory formed part of the City’s flood protection system. Due to the Armory’s demolition, the City has designed and will construct a demountable flood protection wall to replace the existing structure. This new demountable wall will only be installed when directed to do so by the Corps of Engineers, providing an unencumbered view of the Mississippi River and downtown Davenport for the majority of the year.

Construction of Riverfront Park
This project has been broken into several construction phases.

Williams / Valley Construction Management LLC was hired in June 2008 to assist the City in the overall construction management of Armory Park. They will handle all the bids and manage all the sub-contractors on the project. An environmental evaluation for asbestos and lead-based paint was completed in November 2008 and an environmental abatement was completed in January 2009. Temporary flood protection barriers were purchased in January 2009.

Bid Release 1: Williams / Valley Construction Management LLC, the construction managers for the project awarded the bids in January 2009. The work is now underway. The total cost of Bid Release 1 is $2,137,302, which is 24% below estimates. The bid release included: Armory demolition, interceptor sewer, fencing, and sheet piling for permanent flood protection.

Bid Release 2: Williams / Valley Construction Management LLC awarded fifteen bid packages in April 2009. The total of the bids was $6,768,694, which is 8.5% below estimates. The following items are included in the bid package: earthwork and concrete, site utilities, asphalt paving, landscaping, fencing, demountable floodwall, playground equipment, masonry and stone veneer, structural and misc. steel, design build structures, general trades, roofing and sheet metal, light tops and skylights, water feature, HVAC and plumbing, and electrical and sound.

The project is being paid for from the Downtown Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District funds, a source that can only be spent in the Downtown area. Bonds have been issued totaling $11.1 million, plus TIF revenues of $1.25 million totaling $12.35 million. TIF funds will be used to retire the bonds.