Giving Credit where it's due

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By Barb Ickes | Friday, August 29, 2008 4:10 PM CDT | () comments

VIDEO: Credit Island
Columnist Barb Ickes tours Credit Island in Davenport this week, checking o…
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One fisherman.

One bicyclist.

Four hundred acres.

In other words, the two people at Credit Island in Davenport Tuesday afternoon had about 200 acres apiece.

Actually, there were probably others on the island that I didn’t see. After an hour of walking around with a video camera (check it out at qctimes.tv), I’d covered only about half the grounds.

It was a little disappointing to find myself so alone on what was arguably the most gorgeous day in all of recorded history. The island sparkled, I tell you. Sparkled!

Even in its current (pardon the pun) state, Credit Island is beautiful.

You still can’t drive onto the island because the causeway was torn to shreds by two bullying floods. The buckled lumps of asphalt look like an earthquake hit.

It appears that last month’s big windstorm exacted another punishment, judging by the piles and piles of dead tree limbs.

The city people in charge of cleaning up have estimated the cost of restoring Credit Island to its pre-flood condition at $300,000 to $400,000. That’s a lot of clams for one park. But the island’s worth it.

In fact, the one section of bird-strewn waterway, just downriver from the causeway, may be one of the most beautiful scenes in all the Quad-Cities. On Tuesday, it was as green as Ireland, and the geese were in near-constant flight — lifting off the water like feathered actors in a nature play.

The chirp of crickets and the slurp of water against the shore grew only briefly dim behind the wail of a train whistle. Even the breeze made a melody. And I wondered: What will become of this treasure?

Knowing that Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba was probably very busy at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, I called his cell phone. Mayors love it when you call them out of town because it makes them feel important and needed.

Denver, it turns out, is very noisy, and Gluba suggested a call to Alderman Nathan Brown, 1st Ward.

He’s the go-to-guy on matters involving the Credit Island Task Force. The

18-member group is going to make suggestions on what makes the most sense for the island’s future, given that recurring flooding is as certain as the mayor’s now-bloated cell phone bill.

Brown described a collection of subgroups within the task force, including ones focused on fishing, dredging and boating; golfing; bird watching; and

history.

“We split up, based on the task force members’ individual talents,” Brown said. “Each subgroup is formulating what they think will be the good ideas.”

The bigger group then will add a winnowed set of public suggestions and make a final presentation in mid- to late-September, he said.

“All the options are open at this point, including taking out the causeway and making it all walking (and cycling),” he said. “Even if we don’t have another golf course, we’ll want grass, but we’re also mindful of flooding. We’re considering it a water park, basically.”

The idea of removing, rather than replacing the road through Credit Island and adding a bike path deserves consideration. Part of its charm, after all, is its remote setting — a pleasing contrast to the aging industry on the opposite shores.

But everyone should have access to the park, and closing the road could effectively close the island to many. Heck, having the causeway closed these past couple of months seems to have put a serious dent in attendance.

Uh oh. Maybe no one’s supposed to be using the park right now?

I’ll call the mayor.

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com. Comment on this column at qctimes.com.