Friday, January 11, 2008

Article Assortment + Image


Here are some QCTimes stories that interested me over the last few days:

Freight House offers four fun venues in one -QCTimes
Nothing but good news here. I can't wait to check it out, and hopefully we'll see the north side fixed up as well so the future residents of the RiverWalk Lofts will have a better view across the street.

Bettendorf: Joevan site will become new retail center -QCTimes
I don't know if this is the final plan, but if this PDF that a QCT commenter posted is accurate, there's entirely too much parking in this plan. Nothing walkable or non-strip mall about this. Hopefully we'll at least get a PF Changs out of it. See my previous post about lifestyle centers.

Alderman Ambrose IS online; Just 1 alderman remains off e-mail -QCT
Way to research QCTimes. Guess they didn't notice that Barnhill has both a website and email.

Rhythm City diner replaced with 'grab-and-go' food shop -QCT
More screwing of Davenport by IOC. The Rock Around the Click Diner used to be a great little place downtown to get a cheap diner-style meal. Then they ditched the wait staff and made you go get your food from the cook. Now they've just ditched the diner entirely. Who cares, thinks IOC, its just Davenport...

Also, don't forget to check out the Quad Cities promotional video here, at the Bi-State Regional Commission website.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm equally excited about the progress of the Freight House and how much time and effort the Penguins crew in putting in to the historic building.

I can't wait to check the place out in its current form, as well as when the whole 9 is finished.

I wish you had posted the article regarding the Farmer's Market that was printed simultaniously in the paper with the other Freight House related story (a good thing mind you, and quite thoughtful/responsible of you QC-Times!)

It reminds people about the division of the 2 Markets that actually exist there. I for one think its silly, and the people who have run them have bickered like high-schoolers for too long over something easily solved if each would swallow their pride.

I hope Ahrens and the Levee commission stick it to them and reorganize the whole thing whether they like it or not; thus, bringing some much needed unity to the program. That will also make it easier to finish the transition to the new Freight House space it will occupy.

Anonymous said...

And if it wasn't clear before, Tory and the QCT crew really deserve credit here. If I chew them out occasionally, than I'd better call a good thing when I see it too.

It was really great to see the total Freight House picture painted with two articles that covered both the new private development and the Farmer's Market seperately.

Doing stuff like this really helps the public understand that the two projects, although closely related, are in fact different and ran by different organizations with different goals.

Stuff like this helps to erase the many misunderstandings people had of the Freight House project when it began. Well done!

Anonymous said...

The freight house farmers market will be the crown jewel for the river front. Maybe with new aldermen we can see more movement down there.

Unknown said...

I'm also excited about the Freight House finally coming back. The north side of the Frieght House really needs an overhaul, though. Unless an effort is made to spruce it up, you'd never know all the investment made into the building as you drive by on River Drive. Making it look appealing from River Drive is also great advertising for all that traffic.

Anonymous said...

Hey Pioneer - The City actually allocated money already to restore the River Drive side of the building last year, if I'm not mistaken.

It was (not surprisingly) controversial at the time. I swear this was built in to the lease deal that opened up the ability for Penguins to finally move in the space.

Anonymous said...

hey anyone read the article about the town homes in downtown moline?

Anonymous said...

I also thought the work on the front of the building was part of the deal. If it wasn't it should be a priority of this council. It needs to be done for the appearance of the area.

Unknown said...

If I recall, part of the deal was that the city (or levee commission?) would make a "good faith" effort to land funding to spruce up the front of the Freight House. I think the hope is that state and maybe even federal money would be avaialable, because the estimate was nearly $500k.

This is all from memory, I may be wrong.

Anonymous said...

It was something to that effect, pioneer; however, I think it the "good faith" part included trying to actually budget for it.

I think a lot of it was pending someone actually sunk money in to it - which actually happened in the form of the new stuff the Penguins organization is creating.

In that light, I think there really is going to be some help sprucing it up sooner or later.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever emailed Barnhill? Give it a try QCI. Don't hold your breath for an answer.

When was the last time you heard something new and inovative from his mouth.

Same old BS, always dovetailing on someone elses comments.

Nothing new from Barney. You get what you vote for!

Anonymous said...

I visited the Freight House yesterday afternoon after Nathan Brown's ward meeting. The manager stated that the two Saturday night shows were sold out. The sports bar is under construction with drywall estimated be finished this week. Great to see the progress down there.

Jeff Justin
6th Ward Alderman

Anonymous said...

This ambrose E-mail thing has me puzzled. I believe every city employee and alderman has an e-mail account, while are they not published?

Anonymous said...

while (Why) are they not published?

They have been published from day one. You just need to make the effort to look!


Ian Frink
Alderman at Large
ifrink@ci.davenport.ia.us

Gene Meeker
Alderman at Large
gmeeker@ci.davenport.ia.us


Nathan Brown
First Ward Alderman
nbrown@ci.davenport.ia.us
Shawn Hamerlinck
Second Ward Alderman
shamerlinck@ci.davenport.ia.us

William J. Boom
Third Ward Alderman
bboom@ci.davenport.ia.us

Raymond A. Ambrose
Fourth Ward Alderman
rambrose@ci.davenport.ia.us


Bill Lynn
Fifth Ward Alderman
bgl@ci.davenport.ia.us

Jeff Justin
Sixth Ward Alderman
jjustin@ci.davenport.ia.us


Barney Barnhill
Seventh Ward Alderman
bbarnhill@ci.davenport.ia.us

Mike Matson
Eighth Ward Alderman
mmatson@ci.davenport.ia.us

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the Freight House. Like that hasn't been done before.

No matter how many people try, the businesses there always go under.

How many times must people fail before they get the idea?