Filling in the riverfront in Rock Falls

Aug. 26--ROCK FALLS -- The wait is over and plans for two memorial parks along the riverfront are in motion.

The City Council unanimously approved the inclusion of the memorial parks in the RB&W green space project plans at its Aug. 16 meeting.

One memorial area would be for veterans, police, fire and emergency medical service professionals; the other would be devoted to prisoners of war and veterans missing in action.

Rock Falls residents Rod Brooks and Keith Adams have spearheaded the project. Brooks served with the Army during the Vietnam War; Adams, an Air Force veteran, was in the Gulf War.

Now that the council has OK'd the site, fundraising for the estimated $80,000 project can begin in earnest. The nonprofit venture will be funded entirely by donations. Volunteers, helped by the Illinois National Guard's1644th Transportation Company, will do the work.

Brooks and Adams talked about bringing the memorials to the riverfront for a long time, but the action picked up steam last winter.

"We got serious about it last November, and we started scouting memorials in Illinois and some other states," Brooks said.

After looking at several parks, they sat down with Sterling landscape designer Allen Skoog and things came to life quickly.

"We had always planned to do two memorials, and when the sketch was done, we fell in love with it immediately," Brooks said.

For Adams, owner of The Loop Barbershop in Rock Falls, the location was paramount.

"When we looked in other towns, we realized that the most important thing is that a memorial park needs to be in a highly visible spot," he said.

The Rock Falls parks will look a lot like the veterans memorial park in Milledgeville, he said, adding that his motivation for doing the project is simple.

"We just want to bring awareness, and have it in a place where you can drive by every day and enjoy it," Adams said.

The pair first pitched the project to Mayor Bill Wescott in the spring.

"We talked about it some time ago, but we didn't have solid plans for the green space yet, but as plans became more definitive, we talked again," Wescott said.

The area west of where the skate park will be probably would have remained green space anyway, so plugging the parks into that spot seemed like a good fit, he said.

"We don't want businesses or buildings there, because we don't want anything to detract from the view along the riverfront," Wescott said.

The mayor said his main concern was what would happen with the city's existing veterans park.

Veterans Memorial Park at Fifth Street and Fifth Avenue technically is owned by the city. Once known as Triangle Park, it was Coloma Township Park District's first park. The city donated the land shortly after the park district was established in 1925.

The park is also home to the band shell, which hosts special events during the summer.

If the new memorial parks come to fruition, the old one won't disappear, but the families of those memorialized there will have a choice to make.

"If anyone wants their bricks moved to the riverfront, we'll take care of it," Brooks said. "There are some odd colors and shapes, so we'll replace them at our expense so everything matches." The flagpoles and benches will remain.

The new parks have the support of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion organizations. A two-man show up to this point, Brooks hopes to bring more volunteers into the project, Brooks said.

"We're definitely looking to get as many people as possible on board with us."

HOW TO HELP

An account for the nonprofit riverfront memorial parks project has been set up at Sauk Valley Bank, 904 First Ave. in Rock Falls.

Donations also can be sent to Rock Falls Veterans Memorial Park, P.O. Box 225, Rock Falls, IL 61071.

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