Davenport aldermen to paint rusting train car at Freight House
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By Tory Brecht | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 |
Davenport aldermen will team up Saturday to scrape and paint the rusting train car that sits on the north side of the Freight House on River Drive. (Kevin E. Schmidt/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo
Sprucing up the riverfront was one of the current Davenport City Council’s top goals heading into 2008.
Armed with sandblasters and primer, the politicians will put a little elbow grease behind the promise on Saturday.
A team of aldermen on a “bonding exercise” will scrape and paint the rusting train car that sits on the north side of the Freight House on River Drive.
The idea came from 6th Ward Alderman Jeff Justin.
“I drive by there quite a bit and see the rusty old thing sitting there,” he said. “They actually use it as a cooler, so we can’t get rid of it. But we’re putting a lot of money into the riverfront, and this is just one small little thing we can do to help.”
The Freight House is a city-owned building leased by developer Jeff Johnson, who operates Penguins Comedy Club, two bars and soon, a restaurant, in the east end of the historic building. The far west end, including an outdoor patio, is used by the city for farmers market purposes.
Even though he voted against the new lease — because of concerns that the city was giving an unfair break to a private business with a rent reduction from $68,000 to $38,000 per year — 2nd Ward Alderman Shawn Hamerlinck said he’ll be there.
“I’ll go down there even though I didn’t support the lease,” he said. “Aldermen picking up a shovel and doing the work we expect others to do is a proactive step. It shows we’re willing to chip in and help out rather than just being figureheads.”
Nan Losasso, general manager of the Freight House, is excited about the official assistance. The venue has had a rough go of it in its first year, with the flooding Mississippi River forcing a weeklong closure.
“It was kind of crazy, the Saturday before we had to close, we were so busy we were turning people away at the comedy club and the piano bar,” she said. “It was a little hiccup (to have to close), but it wasn’t devastating.”
Losasso said she’s been so fixated on getting things shipshape inside the building, she had forgotten that the north side of the building is still a bit rough looking. She’s looking forward to the aldermen painting the freight car and hopefully securing some funding for streetscaping and landscaping down the road.
“I think it’s going to be a hoot,” she said of the paint job. “I will be down there for sure.”
Steve Ahrens, the Davenport Levee Improvement Commission’s development director, said federal funding is being sought for street improvements.
“There is interest in working to enhance and revitalize that stretch of River Drive,” he said, adding that the city is looking for a $250,000 appropriation for street work there. “We have also applied for an RDA (Riverboat Development Authority) grant for adding seating, tables and a sound system for the west patio area.”
Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.
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