WORDS & PICTURES Erik Reader The historic streets of downtown Rock Island are lined with magnificent structures full of rich architectural details. Whether you are visiting for the very first time or are a long-time resident, take time to stop, look up,...
WORDS & PICTURES Erik Reader Quietly perched in an unassuming third floor office in the Safety Building at 1800 3rd Avenue in downtown Rock Island sit two men overseeing four foundations that have had a philanthropic impact locally and throughout the region...
So much of the national conversation regarding downtown revitalization topics these days is centered around making places for people. It seems like a simple enough thought on the surface, however, somehow we have gotten so far away from that approach...
Peer pressure can be positive, too, so a number of Rock Island community partners are banding together to encourage everyone to read over summer by launching the Rock Town Reads "Show Us Your Book" social media campaign. Summer is an...
One full year into his service as Alderman of the Fifth Ward, we caught up with the busy 29-year old who represents downtown and its historic near neighborhood areas. Now one year into your term as alderman, is it everything you...
Not a week goes by where I don't hear that someone is surprised by a hidden gem in downtown Rock Island that they seemingly rediscovered, even though what they found had been lying right in front of them all along. As...
Heather Kanzaki has always made art, although she didn't realize she was truly an artist until college. Even then, it took a professor writing her a little note and sticking it her cubby that said, “You are an artist, did...
By Sean Leary Founding members always envisioned the gardens growing in Rock Island. Great things are always blooming at the Quad City Botanical Center.Over the past 20 years, the facility at 2525 4th Ave., Rock Island, has taken root and become one...
By Sean Leary Absolutely no other organization like this anywhere, any place. In a storied history that began as a Sash and Door Works, traveled through time as a notorious Millwork company, was decimated multiple times by fire and then finally rebuilt...
By Sean Leary A dream in living color gives the Quad Cities ballet. Ballet Quad-Cities began twenty-one years ago, with one paid dancer, $25,000 in seed money, and the dream burning in the heart of founder and director Joedy Cook to bring...