MOLINE, Ill. — Moline could be getting a new skate park, as more concept and design work has completed on the proposed project.
The park would cost around $3.3 million and be built underneath the I-74 bridge, in an area near 4th Ave and 22nd St. This would include a pump track, half pipe, and spectator areas.
Just down the street at Keep Pushing Skateshop, two regulars at the shop said they're excited for the proposed development.
"As soon as I turned into skateboarding, it all kind of just broke me out of that shy shell," 17-year-old Omar Zetina Cornejo said. "That's why I'm so excited about this park, you know? Cause it'll bring a lot of people together."
"Like Omar said, it would just bring everyone together," 16-year-old Oliver Borders said. "It would be a nicer environment than the closer one we have, which is the Davenport park."
Keep Pushing owner Jonathon Marler has regularly worked with the city of Moline on ideas for the park. "I just think it's super important to have something like this, as it was for me, a second home," he said. "I just want that for these kids to have a place that they can go safely and express themselves."
Marler added that the park could bring tourism business, supplementing restaurants and shops in downtown Moline and the greater Quad Cities. "Clinton just opened their park, Cedar Rapids open their park, and Des Moines has the biggest skate park in the United States," he said. "We now have the circuit where we can have pros or events that can start up there and work their way down to us."
It's change that Moline parks and recreation director Eric Griffith is ready to bring. "There's a park in Davenport, Bettendorf has a small one, but there's really nothing on the Illinois side," he said. "We want to put [skaters] in a safe environment that can be enjoyed by a lot of people."
City council will meet next week for a roundtable discussion on what projects to prioritize budget-wise. With over a dozen other items to consider, it is uncertain if the skate park will be a priority going forward.
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