On Saturday, Oct. 14, you can share your vision for Moline’s revitalized riverfront while enjoying trick-or-treating, pumpkin decorating, free professional family photos, live music, and a food truck from El Mariachi.

Free parking will be available at the parking lot located off of Montgomery Drive and 1st Avenue. Renew Moline and the city of Moline are kicking off the Moline River Front + Centre Plan on Oct. 14th from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the BridgePointe 485 Building (1 Montgomery Drive) with a family-friendly Fall Fest.

This initiative — led by the city of Moline, Renew Moline, and a multidisciplinary national team led by MKSK — will create a compelling vision and implementation plan for a re-imagined Moline riverfront, according to a Friday news release. This planning and design process will embrace engagement, community and ecological resilience, improving health and wellness for all ages, and catalyzing future investment within Moline Centre and along the Mississippi River.

The project will include a series of events and surveys to ideate, refine concepts, and ensure the final plan reflects market realities with what the community wants to see along the riverfront.

A map of downtown Moline showing the planned boundaries of the project area (within the square surrounding I-74).

The plan’s main area is bounded by the Mississippi River to the north, 7th Avenue to the south, 23th Street to the east and 18th Street to the west. A secondary area expands the plan area to the east to 25th Street.

The visions so far on the new riverfront plan website are:

  • How do we create a destination for locals and visitors that anchors the Downtown Riverfront experience? Inspired by the existing cultural vibrancy of Moline, we will invest in a strong public realm framework centered around existing cultural and natural resources, public spaces, public ways, existing infrastructure and recreational amenities. This framework promises to support fresh investment opportunities for community programming and renewed neighborhood vibrancy.
  • How do we unlock the prime redevelopment potential of the site?
    By creating place-based strategies that align market- and community-supported uses with authentic locational attributes, we can create a competitive niche for the Downtown Riverfront that differentiates Moline while complementing existing districts and destinations throughout the region.
  • How can the riverfront better serve as a hub with strengthened connections to Downtown, neighborhoods and community assets? Strengthening both physical and programmatic connections can provide increased social access, equity and engagement to and through the District thereby positioning this site as an epicenter within Moline’s vibrant culture and 24/7 appeal.
  • How do we redefine the relationship between downtown and the river? By embracing the natural systems that make Moline unique, we can create new activations that serve to educate, inspire and empower the community to fall in love with and provide stewardship of these spaces for generations to come. In what ways can we reconnect to and embrace the river?

More project information can be found at the plan website HERE.