Blood, sweat, tears…and resiliency.

Good People of Downtown Davenport,

Blood, sweat, tears…and resiliency.  Did I define 2019-2020 succinctly enough?  “Pivot” defines it well too, but I’m quite certain you’re as tired of hearing that word as I am.  The past two years (yes, two years) have thrown the kitchen sink at our downtown family. The rollercoaster has left no corner untouched, and yet, a grit and spirit born of our blue-collar QC roots rallies us forward every time.  Come hell or high-water (yeah I said it), we still get it done.  Stand tall; there’s much to be proud of. 

As I dangled my legs off the LeClaire Park bandshell thinking about how to sum all this up recently, I was filled with gratitude.  We’re still here; still plowing ahead. You’ve all heard enough about the brutality of 2020 and how it’s still hitting our small businesses, the arts community, friends, and family. So instead, let’s take a moment to celebrate some great progress downtown that may have flown under your radar in 2020.

About 20 businesses opened or expanded this year despite a global pandemic, and two brand-new buildings are coming out of the ground as we speak, redefining our skyline. Downtown was awarded its second National Historic District in the past two years, the KAHL/Capitol Theatre building is well on its way to rebirth, and the City’s small-business resiliency funds are beginning to reach those in need. East Second Street is coming back to life, and there’s still some surprises on the block in store for next year that we can’t wait to announce. A new DDP promotions committee was born this year too, hosting over 18 new promotions or events to help the small business cause. And a revised Icestravagaza is coming soon!

The dream of renovating Kaiserslautern Square is becoming a reality, and a big-time streetscape improvement was just finished near Union Arcade and Duck City on the same 3rd Street block. Speaking of streetscape, we upgraded every single light pole downtown to shiny-bright LED, and more work is underway to improve the electrical grid that powers the entire system. The City’s enormous sewer/storm water improvement project made strides on the riverfront, and all of our riverfront park access points along the railroad have been restored with improvements for bikes and cars, alike. 

A massive, bold new downtown master plan vision is nearing its completion; meanwhile, HR Green has begun engaging our citizens to ensure the flood-mitigation engineering plans of the future meet our collective needs.  DDP also formed a new agreement with the City to step up our daily cleaning and maintenance of downtown; it’s been a great experience. A new snow removal approach will be tested too, and our Downtown Ambassador pilot project received grant funding. We’ve even partnered with our neighboring downtowns on several projects that benefited the whole region. 

The darkest days of winter lay ahead; that is certainly not lost on me. Many of our neighbors continue to battle daily to keep their doors open, and we’ll all need to “Keep it QC” to weather this storm.  But there is hope ahead in mid-late 2021, and as this email shows, incredible progress can still be accomplished on our way to throwing our doors open to the world again.

Your investment makes the heart of community beat. Downtown Davenport will not just survive but thrive again soon because of your blood, sweat, and tears.  We are a resilient bunch, indeed.   

So, cheers to better days ahead in 2021. Happy holidays and warmest regards from the entire DDP Family.  We wish you the very best to close out 2020 strong!

Sincerely,
 
Kyle

Kyle Carter
Executive Director, Downtown Davenport Partnership
Quad Cities Chamber