Three months after fire damaged the Credit Island Lodge, an advisory committee is ready to make its recommendations. Tonight it will present its findings to the Davenport city council.
One member is Robert Peppers, founder of the group, Friends of Credit Island. He says the committee recommends repairing the lodge, instead of demolition.
"The building is 80 % okay. A lot of people don't know that. You wouldn't bulldoze something that's 80 % okay, that was built in the 1920's"
He says the building is mostly made of concrete, and there's no way Davenport could build a new one for the money available. The advisory committee also recommends repairing the lodge so when the Mississippi River rises, it can just "flow" through the building, instead of trying to raise it or build a wall around it.
"The building's been flooded for 100 years. That building is built such that the river almost can't knock it down. The walls are so thick - if you were going to build a new building you wouldn't build walls that thick, you wouldn't build a foundation that heavy duty."
The budget for the project is 1.2 million dollars which is how much Davenport received from its insurance company for the Credit Island Lodge following the fire on May 2nd. Peppers says a consultant estimated it would cost as much as 5 million dollars to replace.
He also says it should be saved because so many public and private events are held there each year. One example is the "haunted island" held at Halloween, in addition to the many receptions and reunions.