MOLINE, Ill. — Renew Moline released its new skatepark and pump track ideas survey on Friday, Feb. 18 that asked residents for input on what the new skatepark should include.
The proposed skatepark would be located partially under the new I-74 bridge, between 4th and 5th avenues and 20th and 22nd streets.
Jonathon Marler opened Keep Pushing Skate Shop in downtown Moline last summer and has been helping give the city ideas.
"At my grand opening, I told everyone that we would have a skatepark in Moline," Marler said. "It was just gonna happen."
Marler said he would like to see the skatepark to be plaza style with a pump track.
"A plaza-style skatepark is more of the things that you're going to find in the streets, you stairs, your rails, your hubbas, your legends, things like that," Marler said. "A pump track is basically something that bikes can use, skaters can use. And it's a way to just use your legs and pump for momentum. And it's just kind of like a little circuit track."
He added he thinks a skatepark will help Moline grow, and it could be a chance to draw large events to the Quad Cities, similar to the popularity of the nation's largest skatepark in Des Moines.
It's also a way to grow the skateboarding community locally. It would give people the option of a skatepark right in Moline's backyard instead of having to travel across the river to visit the skatepark in Centennial Park in Davenport.
"There's baseball fields for baseball players," Marler said. "There's football fields for football players. There's basketball courts. What do we have? We get in trouble for skating out in the streets. We need something where we can go skate safely. And that's what a skate park is. It's our home."
Being built partially under the bridge is a plus too, he said. The bridge would offer a cover from the sunny, rainy or wintry weather.
The survey is open until Friday, March 4.
Once the survey closes, Renew Moline will share the responses with the Moline Parks and Recreation Department and Moline City Council. The suggestions will help shape the design, size and budget and help the city contract with a Skatepark and Pump Track company to bring the ideas to life.
The city anticipates a deadline of early spring, according to a press release.