We’re big believers in ballpark operators who unveil yearly improvements to their facilities. In Davenport, a potentially big project is on deck for Modern Woodmen Park and the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low A; Midwest League): an 18-hole miniature golf course.
This year the River Bandits ownership, Main Street Baseball, installed three new amusements to the ballpark (we’ll have more next week, but for now be warned that they were a hit with the younger members of the family) and are looking to add an 18-hole miniature golf course around and behind the base of the Ferris wheel at Modern Woodmen Park. That area right now is totally open. The rationale is simple: it would be an amenity for a downtown that’s clearly on the rise. From an op-ed from Main Street Baseball’s Dave Heller in the Quad-City Times:
Mini-golf will attract families to Davenport’s beautiful riverfront. It will take an area that’s currently an eyesore and make it genuinely attractive. It will give young people throughout the Quad-Cities another fun (and affordable) amenity to enjoy all summer long. And it will make our wonderful ballpark, already voted “the Best Minor League Ballpark in America,” even more of a regional attraction.
Best of all, it won’t cost taxpayers more money; Roby and I would pay for the course ourselves. Approval would even save taxpayers the cost of maintaining this land. And, yes, the course would be open even when the River Bandits are on the road.
It’s a project already endorsed by the Downtown Partnership, and it goes before the city’s Riverfront Improvement Commission in September. If you go to a River Bandits ballgame, you’ll find there’s something for everyone there. If you’re a baseball purist, the River Bandits are contending for a Midwest League title this year and the Astros send great prospects there. If you’re out with the family, there’s something for everyone, ranging from the amusements to the food to the game.