Big things are planned in the Quad-Cities for 2024. Take a look at what we're keeping an eye on in four Quad-Cities communities:
Bettendorf: Swinging for the fences
Frontier Hospitality Group of Bettendorf has revealed plans to build a $17 million, 80-room hotel near the TBK Bank Sports Complex. The new SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel will be adjacent to the new Iron Tee Golf located in the northeast quadrant of Middle and Forest Grove Roads. Iron Tee is expected to open in Spring 2024.
The TBK Bank Sports Complex, built in 2017, will see big changes this year.
East of the complex, developers plan to build a 100,000-square-foot building to house indoor turf fields. Per an agreement with the city, the indoor turf fields must be completed by Dec. 31, a year later than the original Dec. 31, 2023 deadline.
And, the changes aren't just happening on the turf.
The indoor, year-round spaces lend themselves to a variety of uses including baseball, softball, soccer, football and lacrosse. This is a change from the previous plan, announced in early 2022, to build outdoor fields next to the under-construction Iron Tee Golf Range, which is on track to be completed by June.
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The year-round entertainment venue promises 58 climate-controlled outdoor hitting bays for golf as well as a full bar and year-round activities for kids and families. It will also feature a 10,000-square-foot video-gaming space that will include virtual reality mini-golf as well as multiple event spaces.
Next door to the Iron Tee Golf complex will be a $17 million hotel. Frontier Hospitality Group of Bettendorf announced in August it plans to develop and operate a new SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel in the northeast quadrant of Middle and Forest Grove Roads.
Construction on the new hotel next door is set to begin this year with a goal for the 80-room hotel to open in early 2025. The SpringHill Suites project is expected to create more than 25 permanent jobs and approximately 100 construction jobs
Davenport: Bringing the big screen downtown
The front sitting area of The Last Picture House on Thursday, Dec. 7, in downtown Davenport.
The latest addition to the booming Motor Row district in downtown Davenport has been much anticipated for months, and we're anxious to see as many films as we can this year.
The Last Picture House is the work of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, Quad-Cities natives and film writers most known for their movie 'Quiet Place.'
Taking up the corner building at 325 E. 2nd St., Davenport, the two-story movie theater, social lounge and cocktail bar was developed by Beck and Woods' partnership, Cinema Paradiso LLC.
The movie theater project was awarded a Destination Iowa grant for $600,000, making up 16% of the total project investment of $3.7 million. Destination Iowa is a federally funded state grant program geared toward projects promoting destination-building and tourism.
The theater shows everything from summer blockbusters to cult classics and foreign films, and 35mm projection of old productions that can't be seen any other way. Once the weather warms up, the rooftop will offer chances for outdoor screenings.
Moline: Wings up to the east
The first passenger on the first flight to Charlotte scans his ticket before boarding the plane at the Quad Cities International Airport on Wednesday, Dec. 20, in Moline. The American Airlines flight is available seven days a week and takes off twice a day.Â
Quad Cities International Airport has expanded its reach with a new flight to Charlotte.
The North Carolina-bound service via American Airlines was announced last summer. The inaugural flight took off Dec. 20. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) comes in as the sixth-busiest airport in the nation with 43 million visitors annually, according to enjoytravel.com.
Flights are now available seven days a week, twice a day, at 6:50 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
According to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, the largest employers in the Charlotte-area are in the fields of advanced manufacturing, financial services, logistics, life sciences and innovation economics. In the 2023 Q1 report, the alliance announced the region saw capitol investments of $2.2 billion and an increase of 1,500 jobs.
The economic growth of the Charlotte metro is one reason this flight has been in the works for years. It originally was to take off in 2020 but was thrown off track by the pandemic. American Airlines showed renewed interest, however, because of the success of business travel between Moline and Atlanta on Delta Airlines.
According to the Charlotte airport's website, it routinely sees about 114,000 arrivals and departures a day.Â
Rock Island: New business on tap
The Karpeles Manuscript Museum, 700 22nd St., Rock Island, was located in a former church. It closed last fall, but a brewery hopes to move into the space.Â
Out with the old and in with the brew, a Geneseo-based brewery is set to make its new home in Rock Island.
Constructed in 1914, the pearly Palladian cathedral in Rock Island's Broadway Historic District was once the home of the First Church of Christ, Scientist. Most recently, it housed the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, which displayed a portion of the Karpeles family's collection of more than a million historical documents.
This year the historic limestone-laden edifice is set to be home to burgers, sodas and brews. The Karpeles Museum closed in October and sold its space to Great Revivalist, a Quad-Cities brewery that started in Geneseo before expanding to Clinton.
Great Revivalist CEO Richard Schwab said the brewery is tentatively aiming to open in the summer with its signature beverages and hand-tossed pizzas on the menu. Brewing in historic buildings is nothing new for Great Revivalist — its Clinton location sits in a former Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1898.
The Karpeles Museums, which had 14 locations across the country, were opened by David Karpeles, in 1983. David and his wife, Martha, opened the museums with the belief that attendance should be free to make education widely accessible.
When David died in 2022, his children took the reins of the 10 active locations. With so many locations nationwide — from southern California to upstate New York — it wasn't tenable to keep all the branches open.
The organization has planned to shrink down to five active locations, with their primary museum in St. Augustine, Florida.
Correction: The header for the airport section has been corrected.
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