Jenna Dooley: This is WNIJ. I’m News Director Jenna Dooley. I’m here with environment reporter Jess Savage to get caught up with Rockford’s Davis Park renovations, which just got underway. Jess, we were in Rockford this week. Can you explain what we saw?
Jess Savage: Hey Jenna, we were! There’s a lot of activity going on right now at Davis Park — a large crane and construction workers. We watched with fascination as a backhoe lifted an old park bench straight out of the ground. The park’s closed off to visitors now, and the waterfront path has been rerouted for the time being.
JD: Tell me more about the role of the park in the city.
JS: It’s Rockford’s only city-owned park, and it’s located right downtown up against the Rock River. Davis Park is the site of many community gatherings, like Friday Night Flix in the summer and the city’s annual Ironman race. This summer’s Ironman was actually the last major event before the park was closed for renovations.
JD: What has the city included in their plans for the refreshed park?
JS: Farr Associates and Conservation Design Forum designed the plans. They include a music stage, lawn seating, a skate park and a playground. There are also plans for walking paths and the installation of large sculptures.
JD: This project has been a long time coming. What have you learned about that process?
JS: It has truly been decades of visioning and planning for this project. A city committee put together a task force back in 2018 where the public had an opportunity for input. Last year, Rockford held an open house for community members to check out a scale model of the renovated park. The public has had a lot of time and opportunity to submit comments and participate in the visioning for the updates.
But the project was not without its delays and controversies. Progress was stalled for a while when it looked like the renovations were going to go over budget, and there was some back and forth over whether to include a skate park.
The price tag comes out to more than $15 million, with more than $6 million coming from state funding. [The Rockford] City Council in August voted 13-1 to redevelop the park.
Gina Meeks represents Rockford's 12th Ward. She expressed concern about how much money the city was slated to spend on the revamp, implying that money could be better spent elsewhere.
“It was just a couple of weeks ago," [she said, that] "we were talking about a grocery tax and passing a grocery tax and saying that if we don't pass this grocery tax, we're going to be short $6 to $8 million. And then weeks later, we're turning around spending millions of dollars at Davis Park.”
Since the funding was designated for this specific use, it’s not possible for the city to redirect funds like that.
Mark Bonne represents Rockford's 14th Ward. He wondered if Davis Park is at the center of a new stage of Rockford’s development as a city.
“Embassy Suites just reopened during COVID," [Bonne said.] "It's a huge asset for downtown and Davis Park sitting right at its doorstep, not being fully utilized. It's a lost opportunity. Leveraging the millions of dollars in funding through the state that, as has been noted, can't be spent on something else, is also important. And I think we're getting close to being at a tipping point downtown where projects like this don't necessarily need to be propped up by the city, after maybe 25 years of redevelopment starting.”
JD: And when can Rockford residents and visitors expect to visit Davis Park fully open again?
JS: Construction started earlier this month, and it looks like the city is prepared to welcome people back to the park as early as next summer. I’ll plan on keeping up with its progress with city officials, and you can find photos of the construction and renderings of the renovations at WNIJ.org.
JD: Thanks for catching us up!
JS: You got it!