AGC of the Quad Cities: Giving Something Back

Donating nearly $12,000 worth of expertise and time, the AGC of the Quad Cities implements a community vision for the Mississippi riverfront.

In a project that took more than three years to envision and almost a year to implement, the AGC of the Quad Cities has positioned itself as an integral partner in a five-city community enhancement project along the Mississippi River in Illinois and Iowa, for nothing more than the satisfaction of a job well done. Through this past summer, AGC of the Quad Cities members volunteered almost $12,000 worth of construction expertise and transformed a detailed plan on paper into a viable resource for more than 300,000 Illinois and Iowa residents.

The Perfect Opportunity for the AGC of the Quad Cities Members to Give Something Back To The Community

The AGC of the Quad Cities had actually considered a few other volunteer opportunities in the past few years but, for one reason or another, hadn’t found the right project on which to focus its efforts. While continuing its search, the Wayfinding Committee of River Action, a nonprofit organization that developed two parallel recreational paths spanning some 70 miles along both the Iowa and Illinois sides of the Mississippi River, let the chapter in on a $600,000 plan to enhance a 30-mile portion of the rail with a little local flavor. 

The plan, known as the RiverWay project, was to involve five cities: Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline, Ill., and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and required building two gateways marking the entrances at each end of the popular trail and five informational kiosks dotting the pathway.

The chapter quickly jumped on the plan’s bandwagon, which had already received nearly $300,000 in public donations and services and a matching $300,000 grant from the McKnight Foundation. The AGC of the Quad Cities agreed to pledge nearly $12,000 of work to implement the plan and install the landmarks.

Willing Participants Put the Long-Awaited Plan Into Action

With the plan fully funded and the implementation of the project now secured, Steve Tondi, executive vice president of the AGC of the Quad Cities, stepped in to help coordinate the process with all of the various players. Most of the coordination, says Tondi, involved sitting in on meeting after meeting.

“When you have five different government authorities from two states and the committee program itself trying to coordinate the project,” says Tondi, “you can imagine how long the process takes.” 

Finally, as the weather warmed, a team of AGC members, led by Tom Peterson, vice president of one of the chapter’s 12 member firms, took on nearly 1,000 hours of work. Setting the foundation for the landmarks proved to be the most time-consuming and difficult portion of the job, says Tondi, because of the bedrock along the riverfront.

Once the foundation was set, AGC put in place two gateways, one at either end of the trail, and found of the five kiosks. Each 17-foot gateway tower, designed with a combination of steel, aluminum, concrete, and plastic, marks a major entrance to the paths and weighs nearly 1,000 pounds. The kiosks feature historical information unique to that particular community, local announcements and bulletins, and trail maps and directions. Each brightly colored, 11-foot kiosk is anchored in concrete, supported by steel columns, and covered with a one-piece fiberglass roof.

Finishing The Job

Tondi says that AGC of the Quad Cities also took on the task of coordinating the dedication ceremony for the improved trail. In a unique yet appropriate event, developed by Ed Kiely, a marketing director with a member firm, the chapter convinced the mayors of Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline, Ill., to cross over to Iowa and the Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, mayors to cross the river to the Illinois side. The mayors, local officials, and community dedicated the cities’ kiosks in a simultaneous ribbon-cutting ceremony broadcast live on a local radio station. “This was really a bi-state community effort,” says Tondi.

As for future charitable work by the AGC of the Quad Cities, says Tondi, “We’re definitely putting it in our long-range plans.”