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State Helps Downtown Moline Redevelopment Plans

City of Moline

New legislation will help Moline with its downtown re-development plans around the I-74 Bridge.

Last Friday, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill sponsored by Rock Island State Representative Mike Halpin that puts the city first in line when the state sells excess property.

Alexandra Elias, President and CEO of Renew Moline, says there are 16 parcels of varying sizes, that were once part of the old bridge or turned out not to be needed for the new bridge.

"So the parcels on their own are probably not that valuable, but when you start to plan new public spaces and address adjacent properties, and then create new opportunities for development using some of these parcels, it really just changes the game. There's a lot of possibilities available both for public space and for private space."

Elias says the city and Renew Moline have worked with the Urban Land Institute to consider possible uses for the land - from the river to 7th Avenue, and between 19th and 23rd streets. They include a skate park, new downtown housing, and an arts district based at the Spiegel Building.

The new Illinois law takes effect in January.

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois. While a graduate student in the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield (then known as Sangamon State University), he got his first taste of public radio, covering Illinois state government for WUIS. Here in the Quad Cities, Herb worked for WHBF Radio before coming to WVIK in 1987. Herb also produces the weekly public affairs feature Midwest Week – covering the news behind the news by interviewing reporters about the stories they cover.