Friday, March 23, 2007

Open Thread

I'm going to be unusually busy today, so this might be all you get until sometime Saturday.

Hopefully I'll write up a little something about Alderman Frink's ward meeting, especially the DPD's statement that they will work with the Guardian Angels in a limited manner. It sounds like they're willing to put on a civilian academy for them, although it would still be open to the public as well. Or maybe this is just the usual civilian academy, and Captain Murphy was just saying that the GAs could attend that.

In (rare for this blog) Illinois news, there will be some new development in East Moline's "The Quarter" that I had mentioned in my post a few weeks ago. It will be good to see some changes, since it has consisted of only 2 buildings for a number of years.
Here's the QCOnline article about it. (QCOnline is down as of 6:30, but I'm sure it'll be back up soon)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's great news for East Moline.

The Quarter is certainly a challenging development. The access to the bike path and the view of the river is great, but it's hard to get to driving, and you have a giant Deere factory behind you and a view across the water of the power plant.

To me, the million-dollar question for East Moline - and the thing that may be a tipping point for whether the city rebounds or continues to struggle - is what ultimately happens on the site of the old IH plant.

As far as riverfront property is concerned, it's a great location. But there are definitely going to be huge environmental cleanup obstacles to overcome. They're going to need big bucks from either the state or federal government to make the risk worthwhile for a developer there.
But the potential for something fantastic is certainly there.

hoganj300 said...

The enviromental cleanup is already being taken care of by International Harvester. As being an resident of East Moline, its about time an other developer came in there. Though now that IH left the riverfront, the city has to rethink what they want there riverfront to be. So that means consultants and public meeting, I hope so. I think a great idea for East Moline is to extend River Drive along the levee into the Case IH site, through the existing resendential area to the Quarter, and behind John Deere Harvester to connect to the Watertown area.

QuadCityImages said...

I still say that's the one and only plot of open riverfront land for the Quad Cities' riverfront amusement park.

Laugh if you will, but I think it could work.

Anonymous said...

Off topic, but...

The ability to post anonymous encourages open discussion of issues. Sites that require you to register to post are the moderator’s choice certainly, but there is the choice to post anonymously only.

I would guess the requirement to provide email & name to post would limit discussion. Again, the moderator’s choice, it's their site. If you only want to hear what you want to hear, eliminating anonymous posts will serve that end.

QCI & the Colonel’s sites are thoughtful and informative. The discussion, generally covers diverse points of view and encourage discussion.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure if they had an open bar VanFossen would have arranged for a day leave from rehab and showed up!

Anonymous said...

If not an amusement park, I think a movie studio would wonderful there.

Who would subsidize an amusement park in East Moline?

I think you just throw some of these ideas out just to spur debate.

mrc said...

i think an amusement park there is a *great* idea. the nearest amusement parks are chicago and des moines -- a park could draw people from at least a hundred mile radius to the quad cities (more if it's done well). and historically, i seem to remember seeing old pictures of an amusement park down on the riverfront -- complete with big slides that landed in the river...

Anonymous said...

MRC:

The park & slide was at what is now Blackhawk State Park.

Anonymous said...

I see the new 5th Ward alderman there. Walter Skrovonski, in the bears shirt. There is one guy that wants to be involved for the right reasons!

Anonymous said...

10:25

Obviously your folks did not teach you to have higher standards and quality of life.

Anonymous said...

The Guardian Angels are now a success! They have already started an arrest on some guys downtown that fired off some shots during the weekend, and they are not even here in full force yet. They also recovered some runaway kids. All of this during a simple walk through the neighborhood. And, the police cooperated with them, responding within minutes. That lets you know the police force supports the GAs, even if Bladel doesn't. Wow!

Oh, and Walter Skovronski opposes them. Thank you, Bill Lynn, for the gift of the GAs to this City!

Anonymous said...

GAS - please come to 14th and Gaines and just hang out. The place is unbearable and hte city isn't getting us a real solution. Thugs everywhere.

Anonymous said...

12:11 You are a lone cheerleader, what a joke! I would guess that you are about 5'4" and 145#. Cower when the wind blows and wears a pocket protector. You are a fool! "GA's are a success" in only two weeks!Oh Boy, that makes me want to run out and Superman! You are the type that gives the GA's a bad name. Way to go!

Anonymous said...

To 12:07, which one are you? Oh, you weren't there?! Walter was. I guess that makes you "The Man."

Anonymous said...

Walter was sitting around waiting for failure so he could pick Bill Lynn apart. If that makes Walter "the man" then God help us. Can standards possibly be set any lower than Walter?

Re elect Bill Lynn in the 5th Ward in November!

QuadCityImages said...

I don't know much about Walter, but he seems to have good intentions. I just wonder if he'll be difficult to elect.

I hope somebody runs that can beat Bill "The Economist" Lynn.

Anonymous said...

Thank you QCI!!! I'm tired of Lynn because failure seems to follow him. Thats what Walter likes about Lynn, too predictable and sure to stick his foot, ankle and hip into his "I'm the expert" mouth

QuadCityImages said...

Whatever happened to Joel Franken?

Anonymous said...

I believe he is running for office in Minnesota or some state north.

Anonymous said...

I think Lynn is the best guy that has been on the council for a long time, and so does most of the 5th ward. That is why he was elected by a landslide last time, and (by the way) bringing the GAs to town will guarantee his re-election.

Anonymous said...

Lynn....HA HA HA!!!!