Another Hotel in Downtown Moline? - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

Another Hotel in Downtown Moline?

By Natalie Zarowny
nzarowny@cbs4qc.com

The old John Deere Collectors Center building in Moline could undergo a major renovation, becoming a Hyatt Place Hotel as early as January of 2014.

With the Amtrak station and Western Illinois University campus in the works, many think another hotel is a no brainer.

"There's a great synergy going on in our downtown.  The development's feeding development," said Patrick Burke of the Moline planning and development department.

A Wisconsin-based developer is proposing the project.

The hotel would be about 100 rooms and would include among other things, a meeting space, giving an old building a big time face lift.

"We're actually going to be retaining most of the existing building," said Burke.

It's not just the city that's excited about the possibility.

Local businesses said it's appealing too.

"Anything we can do to bring more people to downtown Moline is a plus for downtown Moline," said Tom Lahl, co-owner of the Dead Poet's Espresso in Moline.

Every business we spoke to was excited about the plans, but there was one small concern: parking.

"During events at the iWireless center, this parking lot's packed, there's nowhere for our customers to park, I don't see how any of the customers for the hotel would find a place to park," said Alex Anthony of Ducky's Formalwear.

It's something businesses said they can deal with.

"I think we can make it work, that certainly isn't a reason not to put something there," said Barbara Trimble of WaterMark Corners.

A group of private and public sector representatives will review the hotel plans Wednesday and possibly make a recommendation to the city council.