This will certainly be a unique addition to the downtown Davenport skyline: the installation of a Ferris wheel at Modern Woodmen Park, home of the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League), begins today.
A six-person crew from Chance Rides, the Ferris wheel manufacturer based in Wichita, Kan., will be on hand for the installation. The Ferris wheel will tower 110 feet above the playing field at Modern Woodmen Park upon opening later this spring. The Ferris wheel and other amusements will be installed past the left-field berm (east end) of Modern Woodmen Park. The process begins with the installation of the base plates for the wheel today, followed by installation of the four “legs” of the Ferris wheel and hanging of the spokes for the wheel. The spokes will be spread at a later date to form the wheel.
Your trivia for the day: the Ferris wheel is named for its inventor, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., who designed it for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the famous World’s Fair that gave us the White City of fiction and nonfiction.
The Ferris wheel will highlight a ballpark amusement lineup to include a carousel, a new ride called a “Drop and Twist,” an expanded 300-foot long zip line, an auto-belay rock-climbing wall, and many other new games and attractions planned for Modern Woodmen Park. The River Bandits even hired a new Assistant General Manager of Amusements, Mike Clark.
RELATED STORIES: Improvements approved for Modern Woodmen Park; More upgrades proposed for Modern Woodmen Park; Financing approved for Ferris wheel in Quad Cities; Ferris wheel approved for Modern Woodmen park; Ferris Wheel on tap for Quad Cities?
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