Moline celebrated the latest stars in that city’s ongoing renaissance: a beautiful historic building’s elegant reincarnation and a state-of-the-art new one worthy of the city’s Mississippi River front door.
Quad-Citians who travel River Drive east of the Interstate 74 Bridge already have been treated to exterior views of the 92,000-square-foot corporate headquarters of IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union. Thursday’s grand opening revealed impressive spaces inside.
Besides enjoying beautiful Mississippi River views from every room, the more than 250 people who work in the all-glass structure are doing so in an environment created in collaboration with employees. The partnership has resulted in an inviting interior featuring comfortable furniture, standing desks, fireplaces, coffee centers, a gym and large interactive TVs.
“We wanted to create an important home for our employee family,” said Allan Hosack, CFO of IHMVCU. “That’s why you will notice the number of fireplaces throughout the building, to create that feeling of warmth. That’s one of the most important things for us: to make sure … employees feel that throughout the building.”
IHMVCU also left room to grow. This building can hold more than 400 employees and the eight-plus-acres campus has room for another building, if needed. It offers attractive landscaping for those who travel the busy corridor.
Even better, IHMVCU plans to share the building’s large community room with its members and other Quad-Citians. “Giving back to the community is very important to us,” Hosack said.
On this project, that included employing more than 600 mostly Quad-Cities laborers. “So we in effect paid our members to build this building,” Hosack said. IHMVCU also boosted efforts to educate future laborers, donating $6,000 to the Tri-City Building & Construction Trades Council.
There clearly is more about this beautiful new Q-C asset than meets the eye here.
That’s also true in spades for Moline’s 104-room four-star Axis Hotel in the heart of Moline’s downtown. Those who venture inside this unique new hotel addition to the Q-C will find a marvelous example of conscious historic preservation, thanks to the Heart of America’s rescue operation at Moline’s circa 1920 Fifth Avenue Building.
Renovations to the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, took three years, but the new hotel, first-floor lounge, new bistro and bar clearly were worth the wait. “This is a great day because we’ve worked so hard on this building,” said David Thompson, Heart of America’s chief operating executive. “We’re excited to show the public the historic richness this building has to offer.”
There’s a lot to appreciate in the way the new hotel, and its centerpiece Syndicate Bistro & Bar deftly marry modern needs with the unique features of the beautiful old building. Even the name of the bistro is dipped in history. Construction of the Fifth Avenue Building was bankrolled by a group of business leaders known as “the syndicate” around a century ago.
We suspect those old leaders would surely be pleased with its rebirth. The eight-story hotel is part of the Hilton’s Tapestry Collection. Its rooms are modern, well-equipped, and feature great views of downtown Moline, Arsenal Island, construction of the I-74 Bridge, the Mississippi River and the Moline hillside.
Equally importantly, both this project and the IHMVCU headquarters are great examples of the things long-time local companies and good corporate citizens can accomplish when they work with cities such as Moline that are committed to growth and redevelopment.
Thanks to all involved, as we look forward to seeing what success stories like this will inspire next.
Article Posted By: qconline.com