Veterans Memorial Park is one of four parks located along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

in downtown

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The other three are Centennial Park, which is immediately to the east of Veterans Park,

LeClaire Park LeClaire Park is a public park located along the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It is situated between two other riverfront parks: Centennial Park on the west and River Heritage Park, a new park that is being devel ...

and River Heritage Park, which is being developed on the far east side of downtown on land that had been used for industrial purposes. The

Riverfront Parkway Riverfront Parkway is located along the Mississippi River in the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in the U.S. state of Iowa. The parkway is a bike and walking trail that extends for starting at Credit Island on the west passing through Davenpo ...

passes through the south side of the park.

History

The Davenport City Council narrowly rejected a proposal in October 2010 to name the new park on the east side of downtown as a veterans memorial. Instead they established a task force to find a park location for the memorial. They choose Crescent Park, which was an undeveloped area along the Mississippi River near the

Crescent Rail Bridge The Crescent Bridge carries a rail line across the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois. It was formerly owned by the Davenport, Rock Island and North Western Railway, a joint subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington ...

. The council gave its approval in January 2011. An entrance area to the park with three flagpoles was dedicated on Memorial Day in 2011. Other proposed elements to the park include a high promontory berm, an observation spire or another type of large memorial and an

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. The other elements will be phased in over a period of years. Phase Two of the parks' development was begun in May 2022. It will create the berm or overlook along the river.

References

External links

Conceptual plan for the parkArtist's concept for the memorial
{{Quad Cities Parks in Davenport, Iowa Protected areas on the Mississippi River Military monuments and memorials in the United States