ROCKFORD — City officials could tap $250,000 in state capital improvement funding secured by state Sen. Steve Stadelman to install boat docks this summer at Davis Park in downtown.
Stadelman said he views the addition of boat docks as an incremental step toward activating a park with the potential to serve as a central gathering and entertainment hub of the city. And it builds off momentum created last year by the opening of the Embassy Suites by Hilton Rockford Riverfront before the pandemic brought the hospitality industry to a halt.
"There is a lot of excitement among people in this community about that development," Stadelman said. "Before COVID hit — and even in the summer when there was limited occupancy — they would go to the hotel, eat on the rooftops and they would be real excited about this project and they could really envision what downtown Rockford can become."