After nine long years of dreams and plans, a new MLK Park in the heart of downtown Davenport will become a reality.

Dozens of local public and private leaders took part Monday in a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $1.3 million park at the Friends of MLK Interpretive Center at 501 Brady St. The new park (including a bandshell) is expected to open in early fall 2023.

Ryan Saddler, Friends of MLK board chair, first met about the project with former Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba and Rev. Rogers Kirk in November 2014. A task force was formed and in 2016, a formal nonprofit organization was incorporated.

They hired East Moline-based Streamline Architects to design the park and Davenport-based Estes Construction to build it.

Funding for the project has come from Ascentra, Scott County Regional Authority, Regional Development Authority, the city of Davenport, the Scott County Board, Iowa Economic Development Authority, MidAmerican Energy, Downtown Davenport Partnership, and many other individuals and organizations.

The park aims to tell the historical significance of the African-American community, as well as the Quad Cities as a whole.

Many homes in the area were built by African-Americans, and the first Black business was at this intersection, of 5^th and Brady, Saddler said.

“The significance of this space to the Black community is here,” he said, noting, just over the railroad tracks, LULAC Council 10 had its first office.

The park is just south of where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his only appearance in the Quad Cities. That was April 28, 1965, to receive the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award (by the Catholic Interracial Council), at the former Masonic Temple nearby (today’s Vickie Anne Palmer Hall). You can read his speech HERE.

“We want to tell the stories of Quad Citizens that made this place what it is today,” Saddler said. The outdoor history panels will rotate and change, including stories many people have never heard before.

‘Our history’

“This is our history,” Saddler said. The park will serve as a destination not only for visitors, but for Quad Citizens who want to know more about their past.

He credited the partnership with the Putnam Museum and Science Center (which recently opened its new regional history exhibit, “Common Ground”), to share information, artifacts and stories.

“If you have stories, if you have artifacts, think about sharing them with us,” Saddler said. “We’d love to have them. Don’t think they just have to be African-American stories. These are our stories, of our community.”

Mayor Mike Matson praised the perseverance and partnerships of everyone involved.

“It’s a beacon as people traverse through the Hilltop” to the center of downtown, he said of the planned park. “This will be a focal point, a thinking point, a reminiscing.”

“History is real, education is important, sometimes difficult,” Matson said. “That’s why places like this are so important, so we can talk about them, we can discuss them. Maybe we can debate them. The more we learn, the more we understand – and this includes me, the more I learn, the more I understand and the better person I can be.

“This place will be a significant piece to help everyone understand that,” he said.

Andrew Dasso, principal architect for Streamline, said he’s honored to be part of this project – which will serve cultural as well as educational needs.

“It will allow for speakers, allow for entertainment, bands to use the stage,” he said. “Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong played at this location.”

The display panels will be lit up at night and interchangeable, Dasso said.

“There will be other areas for entertainment, festivals. I’m really excited for all the opportunities this will provide for Davenport and the Quad Cities,” he said. “Create a destination we can all be proud of.”

Kent Pilcher, president of Estes Construction, is past co-chair of Q2030 (the regional vision) and said one of its top priorities is to make this a “more diverse, welcoming and inclusive region.”

“It’s an honor for us to be part of a big team, particularly to recognize those fundamental concepts and principles Dr. King stood for,” he said.

Vision, dedication, commitment

“The establishment of a Martin Luther King Park is a testament to the collective vision, dedication and commitment of our leadership and the private sector,” Michael Guster, president of the Davenport-based NAACP Metrocom Branch, said Monday.

The park will serve as a lasting tribute to Dr. King’s legacy and “his tireless effort in advocating equality, justice, and civil rights,” he said. “I’m truly grateful for the immense effort invested by the city of Davenport in bringing this project to fruition.”

The park will promote unity among the diverse QC population and benefit generations to come, he noted.

“It will become a central hub for community engagement, recreation and cultural events,” Guster said. “It will serve as a gathering place for family, friends and neighbors – fostering a sense of togetherness, promoting the values of Dr. King, that he championed.”

“We have come a long ways, but we have a long way to go,” he added. “I’m just overwhelmed today to be at this point.”

“It takes all of us together – Black, white, LGBTQ, Latinos,” Guster added. “It takes all of us working together as a shared community, to make this community better.”

“We’ve found a mission alignment with the Friends of Martin Luther King Interpretive Center,” said Putnam president/CEO Rachael Mullins. Their African-American Advisory Council has spent many years researching local Black history and gathering stories for the Putnam “Common Ground” exhibit, as well as the new park.

Many cultures are being lifted up in both venues to tell important stories, many not found in history books, Mullins said.

“There’s a wonderful alignment of the content” between the Putnam and MLK Park, she said, noting Azubuike African American Council for the Arts led an oral history project for the new Putnam exhibit, Friends of MLK and LULAC Council 10.

“Much of that content is stored in the Putnam archives, but also shared here at the Friends of Martin Luther King Interpretive Center, for a more exhaustive look at the stories,” Mullins said. “We’re continuing to collect artifacts and documents to make sure the material culture of these families are represented and held in trust for future generations.”

There are interior displays at the interpretive center that also are changeable.

“People need the opportunity to tell their own stories,” Mullins said, noting you don’t need to be a famous leader like Dr. King to be worthy of having your history told. “I think it’s really important this kind of venue exists in this neighborhood, that lifts up some of those stories and the extraordinary history of this neighborhood.”

“This is the Quad Cities’ story,” she said. “It’s not in a silo – that the African-American story of our community is intermixed with our Hispanic roots, our German-American stories; all of these communities’ cultures, histories and stories are all interconnected and this will be one more place to celebrate that.”