June 23, 2021
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Downtown Quad Cities: This Summer’s Hotspot
With more Quad Citizens raring to go out of their homes this summer in search of fun and adventure, our collective downtowns are loading up their events calendar and are optimistic business will bounce back after the challenges created by COVID-19. Across the bi-state region, many of our signature events and attractions – from the John Deere Classic to the Quad Cities River Bandits, Bix weekend and more – will be welcoming back their crowds this summer. Our downtowns are busy planning the return of their own special events including concert series, outdoor markets, nightlife fun, performing arts and other cultural festivities. Between their traditional events and some new activities, the downtowns hope to attract residents and visitors alike. In other words, Downtown Quad Cities is open for business. From Davenport to Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Silvis and LeClaire, the region’s downtowns are looking forward to new guests, a return of downtown workers as well as travelers to help re-capture the vibrancy and momentum lost in 2020. “I think people are eager to get out and
explore our different destinations in the Quad Cities, meet up with their friends, celebrate summer and just be with each other – and that’s exciting,” said Jack Cullen, the Chamber’s Downtown Rock Island Director. “It’s a great opportunity for all the businesses that had a tough year-plus to have a rebound this summer.” The Quad Cities Chamber manages three of the area’s downtowns while collaborating with partners to advance the others. Through its work with the Downtown Davenport Partnership (DDP) and Downtown Bettendorf Organization (DBO) and now downtown Rock Island, the Chamber’s leadership has prioritized placemaking as a core value. The need to have vibrant and inclusive downtowns is capturing the attention of chamber, tourism and economic development circles not only regionally but on the national front. “Every pocket of the Quad Cities has something to be proud of and has something to celebrate in our downtowns and our neighborhoods,” said Kyle Carter, DDP’s Executive Director and the Chamber’s Vice President of Community Place Management.
Placemaking simply means “who you are as a city,” Carter said. “What makes this place special, what makes this place unique? Why would anyone want to be in the Quad Cities, in downtown Davenport, Moline or wherever?” The job of the Chamber – through its downtown partnerships and its collaboration with other community partners – “is to make sure this place is somewhere that people want to live, that it is engaging, it’s welcoming, it’s inclusive and that it’s interesting.” “Placemaking is the art of creating that,” Carter said. “We all have our small little pockets of the Quad Cities that we love the most, but that’s okay because they all bring something different to the table. Our job is really to make sure we’re celebrating all of them and using them for leveraging to get new people to live here and get people who aren’t here to want to stay here and to grow.” Dave Herrell, Visit Quad Cities’ President and CEO, said thriving downtowns are key to a community’s success. “If your downtowns are activated, engaged and compelling that draws residents and visitors which is a good thing in a lot of different arenas.” He said new research shows visitors “want to get out there and do things again.” Residents and visitors are hungry to gather again, attend a concert, see a show and just socialize with more friends. “As that consumer confidence grows, more people are getting vaccinated, more are getting confident about getting out and about, that bodes well for our visitor community,” Herrell said. Nowhere is the longing to return to normalcy more evident than our downtown districts, where businesses, venues and events are bracing for a fun-filled summer.
Here’s a glimpse of what some of our downtowns have in store:
Bettendorf
The Downtown Bettendorf Organization (DBO) kicked off the Quad Cities summer
party with Be Downtown last June 5. Ryan Jantzi, DBO’s Executive Director, said this year’s new location -- albeit a new city parking lot -- was chosen to provide a sneak peek of what is still to come downtown. “The parking lot is not the sexiest of setups but we want to get people to wrap their brains around what’s coming down here,” Jantzi said. The locale is sandwiched between the new Interstate 74 bridge off-ramp and the new TBK Bank headquarters. It also overlooks the site of Bettendorf’s future urban park that will be underneath the new bridge. He said talks are already in the works for new developments for the west side of the bridge, which he hopes one day will enjoy the same level of investment and new growth as the east side. “It’s becoming a place of interest.” A new pocket park already is taking shape along State Street near Scuba Adventures QCA. Plans call for new landscaping, tables, chairs and benches. Upriver, he hopes the new Jetty Park near the marina will become more actively used, possibly as a site for pop-up events such as food trucks, Saturday morning yoga, mini concerts and more.
Davenport
“You’re going to see summer events come back to downtown Davenport,” Carter said. While the entire nation felt the pain of COVID-19’s shutdown, he said it was a double whammy for downtown Davenport. “Despite the fact that we got punched straight in the nose during the flood in 2019 and turned around and got hit in the back during COVID-19, we’re still standing and we’re still here,” he said. Although some restrictions could remain in place, Carter said “By the late summer and fall I think there is little doubt that we’ll be able to have a good time.” Downtown visitors will ooh and awe as Red, White and Boom fireworks return to Continues in next page
