"Sippi's" is the "renovation" of the red brick building at 2nd and Ripley that Bill Wundram always writes about and calls Willy's place. It has a large addition onto the back with SIDING that looks about as appropriate for downtown as a Walmart. Fortunately for the owner, he squeaked in with his permits just before the Downtown Design Guidelines were active.
I, for one, am stoked about the potential for that area in general. I know most folks are against corporate developments, but I would love see a walgreens or CVS locate down there along with a few popular chain restaurants.
First of all, the staion is more than likely to be on the Illinois side since they pushed for it, and am pulling for Centre Station in Downtown Moline. Wouldn't it be great for Chicagoans to take the train to the i wireless center for a show they could not get tickets for in their city?
Since were talking about corporate developments, I thought an great idea for that swath of land east of the Crescent Lofts would be to put an grocery store there. Now some people might be against seeing an large store like Hy-Vee or an Jewel-Osco there, but I've seen ones in central neighborhoods in the city of Chicago. This would at least be an incentive for people to live in the central city for both Rock Island and Davenport, since the next closet major grocery store is on Rockingham Road, on Kimberly, W. Locust, and north of Augustana on 18th Ave. in Rock Island - all Hy-Vee. I'm also sure whatever grocery store locates their will be the offical sponsor for the after party for the Bix7.
I heard an ugly rumor that they were breaking their promise and applying for a liquor license, but I rate that as highly unreliable.
The problem is its more of a convenience store than a grocery or even drugstore. I suppose its a first step though, and like the news article said, at least you can buy some necessities downtown now.
i second (third?) the grocery store idea as a positive one, for the reasons already listed.
on the 'open thread' tip, does anyone read neatorama? it's a popular weblog devoted to, well, anything that is interesting. today i found out the author is a native iowan:
Regarding the site for a future train station, a fact few people realize is that Moline's Centre Station was actually built with that in mind.
I wrote about it when I was with The Dispatch back in September of 2000.
Here are a couple graphs from the story:
"Moline has a station in search of a train.
As the push for a $4 billion, nine-state Midwest passenger-rail system continues, officials at MetroLink believe they've positioned themselves as the likely rail stop in the Quad-Cities.
When MetroLink's Centre Station opened in 1998, it was purposely located adjacent to rail lines and built with expansion in mind, MetroLink spokeswoman Rachael Mullins said.
``Centre Station was built as an intermodal facility,'' she said. ``In terms of a Quad-Cities stop, Centre Station is ideally positioned for location, and MetroLink is positioned as an ideal partner for a passenger-rail program.''
The tracks lie along the southern edge of the 12,000-square-foot building, which houses MetroLink's bus fleet, trolleys, administrative offices and a gift shop.
If needed, a passenger-rail platform could be built relatively quickly at no great expense, Ms. Mullins said. In addition, unused areas inside the station could be turned into a ticket office, restaurant and shops to accommodate rail passengers, she said."
Another suggestion for you - Sabula. It's the only city in Iowa located entirely on an Island. Great canoeing, fishing and natural beauty in that area.
Here's a link that shows an aerial view of the town: http://www.boundedbywater.com/
9:59 - that wasn't anything i wrote; i as just linking to the neatorama page. but hey - never heard of Sabula, even though i've visited Savannah. sounds interesting.
Keith, you might as well just use your name when you post. By this time I can easily recognize most of what you say around the blogs. Or you could use your new "riverdog" handle...
It's not commuter rail, it's passenger rail. If someone came out from Chicago to attend a concert, they would have to come in on the morning train, find something to do until the evening concert and wouldn't be able to return to the City until the next morning. They either have to find a place to hang out from the end of the concert until 7 or 8 the next morning, stay with friends or they need to get a hotel. At that point it doesn't really matter where the station is, they will still need transportation - a friend, a cab or a hotel shuttle.
Sippis was a huge disappointment. No disrespect to the owners, but the new facade and siding suck. That would have been a great location for a trendy shop of some kind. So close to the Figge... Or heck it's small enough and was cheap enough for one or two condo units.
The first poster asked for my position on Fejervary Park.
I am in favor of the current public process which will bring back ideas on how we can move forward to provide a park all Davenport can be proud of.
I listened to the reports of the 7 groups at the recent meeting. Over and over again I heard "give us a park where we can take our young children". Provide some kind of animal educational interactive experience. Market the Putnum, IMAX, and the park together as a destination opportunity.
We have tried the zoo concept long enough to realize it has not worked and will not work well even if we threw a ton of money at it. We can not do a good job of presenting a respectable zoo when we have 5 acres and Niabi has 240 acres. It will not be a good use of tax payer $ and we will still not stack up to Niabi in the long run.
I agree with the results of the public forum and favor redesigning the park to provide some form of petting experience for young people. Work in the Mother Goose concept. Work with 4H and FFA to provide farm animals the city can take care of during the summer and return to the farm in the winter. Build an animal themed play area to tie in with the concept. Work with Niabi to bring in special exhibits of animals throughout the year, but keep that changing to keep interest high and promote return visits. Tie this in with what is playing at the IMAX. Films showing desert areas could bring a display of animals found in the desert, etc. I also want to see if we can build a safe winter sledding area to take advantage of the great slopes found in this area.
We also need to give thought to making this area safe. Neighbors report gang activity and too much questionable activity at night. If we can't police this area well we will still have low attendance no matter what we do in Fejervary Park. Bill
sippis was an vacant building at 2nd and ripply streets in davenport for past 20yrs no one has made effort to restore i think we need to give this project a chance to be completed before we judge the apperance the original brick is in need of repair but a good mix of old and new appears to be shapeing up
I am with you all on the appearance. Too bad they couldn't have found a way to leave the front facade and windows in a better way, reminiscent of the old store front it was. That aside, we have had the opportunity to eat at Sippi's and have to say that the welcoming atmosphere, as well as the great food is worth looking past the outward presentation. Reasonable prices, too!
Never has such an ugly demolition site looked so good.
23 comments:
Alderman Boom, what is your position on the Fejervary Zoo?
It might make a good site for the Davenport train station if (WHEN) the Quad Cities one day gets rail passenger service.
Is 'Sippis the renovation of the little former service station on the cement plant site?
If so, it doesn't look that bad to me.
No sir or no ms. Sipps is the Davenport Design Office and Davenport Ones contribution to Willie Eckstein building.
"Sippi's" is the "renovation" of the red brick building at 2nd and Ripley that Bill Wundram always writes about and calls Willy's place. It has a large addition onto the back with SIDING that looks about as appropriate for downtown as a Walmart. Fortunately for the owner, he squeaked in with his permits just before the Downtown Design Guidelines were active.
I, for one, am stoked about the potential for that area in general. I know most folks are against corporate developments, but I would love see a walgreens or CVS locate down there along with a few popular chain restaurants.
First of all, the staion is more than likely to be on the Illinois side since they pushed for it, and am pulling for Centre Station in Downtown Moline. Wouldn't it be great for Chicagoans to take the train to the i wireless center for a show they could not get tickets for in their city?
Since were talking about corporate developments, I thought an great idea for that swath of land east of the Crescent Lofts would be to put an grocery store there. Now some people might be against seeing an large store like Hy-Vee or an Jewel-Osco there, but I've seen ones in central neighborhoods in the city of Chicago. This would at least be an incentive for people to live in the central city for both Rock Island and Davenport, since the next closet major grocery store is on Rockingham Road, on Kimberly, W. Locust, and north of Augustana on 18th Ave. in Rock Island - all Hy-Vee. I'm also sure whatever grocery store locates their will be the offical sponsor for the after party for the Bix7.
It'd be nice if they could at least put one floor of apartments on top of a 1 story grocery store to make it fit a downtown setting better.
how's the little grocery on 3rd Street doing? (Between Harrison and Main.)
I heard an ugly rumor that they were breaking their promise and applying for a liquor license, but I rate that as highly unreliable.
The problem is its more of a convenience store than a grocery or even drugstore. I suppose its a first step though, and like the news article said, at least you can buy some necessities downtown now.
i second (third?) the grocery store idea as a positive one, for the reasons already listed.
on the 'open thread' tip, does anyone read neatorama? it's a popular weblog devoted to, well, anything that is interesting. today i found out the author is a native iowan:
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/03/26/seven-places-to-check-out-if-youre-ever-in-iowa/
Regarding the site for a future train station, a fact few people realize is that Moline's Centre Station was actually built with that in mind.
I wrote about it when I was with The Dispatch back in September of 2000.
Here are a couple graphs from the story:
"Moline has a station in search of a train.
As the push for a $4 billion, nine-state Midwest passenger-rail system continues, officials at MetroLink believe they've positioned themselves as the likely rail stop in the Quad-Cities.
When MetroLink's Centre Station opened in 1998, it was purposely located adjacent to rail lines and built with expansion in mind, MetroLink spokeswoman Rachael Mullins said.
``Centre Station was built as an intermodal facility,'' she said. ``In terms of a Quad-Cities stop, Centre Station is ideally positioned for location, and MetroLink is positioned as an ideal partner for a passenger-rail program.''
The tracks lie along the southern edge of the 12,000-square-foot building, which houses MetroLink's bus fleet, trolleys, administrative offices and a gift shop.
If needed, a passenger-rail platform could be built relatively quickly at no great expense, Ms. Mullins said. In addition, unused areas inside the station could be turned into a ticket office, restaurant and shops to accommodate rail passengers, she said."
apologies - i hit "post" instead of "preview."
here you go.
Matt,
Another suggestion for you - Sabula. It's the only city in Iowa located entirely on an Island. Great canoeing, fishing and natural beauty in that area.
Here's a link that shows an aerial view of the town: http://www.boundedbywater.com/
Sippis explaination,Design Office lie number 144. Mayby lie number 147 but who is keeping track. Stupoid.
Even if it is ugly, at least it's an abaondoned building downtown being put to new use.
Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater!
9:59 - that wasn't anything i wrote; i as just linking to the neatorama page. but hey - never heard of Sabula, even though i've visited Savannah. sounds interesting.
Keith, you might as well just use your name when you post. By this time I can easily recognize most of what you say around the blogs. Or you could use your new "riverdog" handle...
It's not commuter rail, it's passenger rail. If someone came out from Chicago to attend a concert, they would have to come in on the morning train, find something to do until the evening concert and wouldn't be able to return to the City until the next morning. They either have to find a place to hang out from the end of the concert until 7 or 8 the next morning, stay with friends or they need to get a hotel. At that point it doesn't really matter where the station is, they will still need transportation - a friend, a cab or a hotel shuttle.
Sippis was a huge disappointment.
No disrespect to the owners, but the new facade and siding suck.
That would have been a great location for a trendy shop of some kind. So close to the Figge...
Or heck it's small enough and was cheap enough for one or two condo units.
The first poster asked for my position on Fejervary Park.
I am in favor of the current public process which will bring back ideas on how we can move forward to provide a park all Davenport can be proud of.
I listened to the reports of the 7 groups at the recent meeting. Over and over again I heard "give us a park where we can take our young children". Provide some kind of animal educational interactive experience. Market the Putnum, IMAX, and the park together as a destination opportunity.
We have tried the zoo concept long enough to realize it has not worked and will not work well even if we threw a ton of money at it. We can not do a good job of presenting a respectable zoo when we have 5 acres and Niabi has 240 acres. It will not be a good use of tax payer $ and we will still not stack up to Niabi in the long run.
I agree with the results of the public forum and favor redesigning the park to provide some form of petting experience for young people. Work in the Mother Goose concept. Work with 4H and FFA to provide farm animals the city can take care of during the summer and return to the farm in the winter. Build an animal themed play area to tie in with the concept. Work with Niabi to bring in special exhibits of animals throughout the year, but keep that changing to keep interest high and promote return visits. Tie this in with what is playing at the IMAX. Films showing desert areas could bring a display of animals found in the desert, etc. I also want to see if we can build a safe winter sledding area to take advantage of the great slopes found in this area.
We also need to give thought to making this area safe. Neighbors report gang activity and too much questionable activity at night. If we can't police this area well we will still have low attendance no matter what we do in Fejervary Park.
Bill
sippis was an vacant building at 2nd and ripply streets in davenport for past 20yrs no one has made effort to restore i think we need to give this project a chance to be completed before we judge the apperance the original brick is in need of repair but a good mix of old and new appears to be shapeing up
I am with you all on the appearance. Too bad they couldn't have found a way to leave the front facade and windows in a better way, reminiscent of the old store front it was.
That aside, we have had the opportunity to eat at Sippi's and have to say that the welcoming atmosphere, as well as the great food is worth looking past the outward presentation. Reasonable prices, too!
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