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Davenport riverfront being prepped for more cruise ships
Another million-dollar investment in a Davenport park is making it cruise-ship ready for next season.
The latest Mississippi River cruise schedule shows large passenger vessels from two cruise lines anchoring simultaneously next year along the seawall at River Heritage Park.
Boats from American Cruise Lines, including classic paddlewheelers and modern riverboats, this year included Davenport in their ports-of-call. Hundreds of riverboat passengers have been disembarking at River Heritage Park, boarding buses for tours of Quad-City destinations.
Newly built riverboats from Viking Cruise Lines also will be anchoring next season in Davenport.
To prepare for the increase in river-fleet traffic, Davenport has made repairs to the seawall and now is extending the river walk/promenade that runs the length of the park's riverfront. The promenade includes a decorative-concrete walkway, lighting and benches.
The custom-made iron railing must also be retrofitted to accommodate the movement of passengers to their waiting tour buses.
"We'll need to add cutaways at the railings, so the cruise lines can extend their gangplanks," said Steve Ahrens, executive director of Davenport's Riverfront Improvement Commission. "The park really meets all the other needs pretty well. The location is just beautiful."
To beautify it further, the latest project includes grading of the eastern portion for the "great lawn," which is an upstream expanse of riverfront green space.
The Davenport stop on American's cruise schedule has been delivering two ships a week, which will continue through the first of November, Ahrens said. The port-of-call requires several tour buses for land excursions to the Figge Art Museum, John Deere Pavilion, the Quad-City Botanical Center, an Iowa farm and other tourist destinations.
For this season, the parking lot at River Heritage has been sufficient, but Ahrens said lot-configuration improvement is needed, too. But it has to be done correctly.
He said it would help to enlarge the bus drop-off space just inside the park to create a wider turn radius.
"We're getting by just fine right now, but we're getting designs readied for another project," he said. "We have to respect that it's a park. It's a limited amount of space, and you don't want it consumed with concrete for a lot of parking, either."
In the long-term, local historians and river advocates still are fundraising for "First Bridge" which would be a replica span of the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi. It would serve as a foot bridge across East River Drive — from its original embankment on the north side to a new pier at River Heritage Park to the south.
Kathy Wine, of River Action, has been leading the charge for the construction of First Bridge, and she said the ongoing improvements at the park are showing its potential for attracting visitors.
"It is wonderful to see," she said of the comings and goings of cruise passengers. "In the plan, the mound for the River Bridge pier will be on the east side of the land. There's little flooding there, too, which helps."
Also helpful is the number of passengers-turned-tourists who are taking in Quad-City sites.
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At the Figge, for instance, the museum typically is closed on Mondays, but staff is making provisions to accommodate cruise-ship passengers who wish to visit any day.
"We have worked with the programmers from two different cruise (ships) that come through currently to make sure their guests have the opportunity to visit the Figge during their time in the Quad-Cities," said Melissa Mohr, the Figge's director of education. "We are always happy to work with the cruise lines to accommodate their scheduling needs.
"Sometimes this can result in us opening up to the public on days or during times when we are typically closed."
Mohr said hopes are high that diminishing COVID-19 infections will generate more interest in land excursions during next year's even-busier season.
