EXCLUSIVE — Illinois Quad-Cities businesses have been notified by the state to begin preparing for a shutdown and covid mitigation procedures beginning Wednesday, multiple sources who asked not to be identified told QuadCities.com today. The sources are all local small business owners, and were notified last night so they could begin preparing. An official announcement […]
A second large bar in downtown Rock Island is closing its doors. Just weeks after Billy Bob’s shut down, The Black Sheep Pub is closing. Owner Shawn Cirlos posted on social media that he’d been losing $30,000 a month due to covid and the city’s 1 a.m.curfew for bars in the downtown. Cirlos added that […]
I’m sick of the politics. I’m sick of the politicians. With more people struggling than ever, with more businesses closing, with the covid numbers increasing yet again, just like the scientists predicted (amazing how you can listen to intelligent, learned people and get accurate predictions on what’s likely to happen, isn’t it?), IT’S TIME TO […]
Rock Island’s Big Swing Brewing Company, 113 18th Street, announced today they will be closing immediately. In a video released on social media, the restaurant and brewing company housed in the old Blue Cat Brewing Company spot made the announcement. Over a montage of pictures of the staff and patrons, the message scrolled: “And suddenly […]
The party is ending. Billy Bob’s Redneck Party Bar, not that long ago a thriving business in Rock Island’s downtown strip, announced on Facebook that they were closing next week. Undoubtedly hit incredibly hard by covid-19 and lengthy closures and quarantines, the dance club owners posted the following tonight: It’s with a heavy heart that […]
Denny and Brett Hitchcock are the most tenacious of entrepreneurs. For over 40 years, their business, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, has endured a handful of recessions, booming and barren economic conditions, and, now, a pandemic. It certainly hasn’t been easy. Especially not in 2020. Both father and son have said, without hyperbole, that their business […]
Are you ready to get stamp’d? Head down to downtown Rock Island’s Big Swing for karaoke night tonight (and every Friday night starting at 8) and you can line yourself up for some prizes, but getting a Get Stamp’d Passport at Big Swing, and then heading down 2nd Street a bit to get another stamp […]
Saturday in the Arts is a comprehensive, in-depth feature on a topic, trend or personality impacting the Quad-Cities, posted every Saturday morning on QuadCities.com. This week we look at the various downtown businesses of the Illinois and Iowa Quad-Cities and how they’ve been impacted by, and have adapted to, the covid-19 pandemic. The popular […]
Following many years of work in historic preservation, Rock Island leaders made history again Monday, July 6, as the downtown officially became part of the National Register of Historic Places. Led by the city’s Community and Economic Development Department, the effort was announced by the city of Rock Island and the Development Association of Rock […]
As Illinois relaxes its social restrictions Friday (including allowing all gatherings of 10 people or fewer), the Quad City Arts Center, 1715 2nd Ave., Rock Island, will reopen Friday at 10 a.m. Free entry is available 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 5 Saturdays. Following the next phase of the “Restore […]
