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Request for Qualifications/Proposals Public Art Master Plan – Moline, IL September 10, 2019

Summary: The City of Moline (City), in partnership with Renew Moline, a 501(C)(3) non-profit economic development entity (Renew), is soliciting qualifications and proposals for the development of a Public Art Master Plan. The partners intend to develop a Public Art Master Plan for the downtown Moline area to enhance the urban experience and provide an attractive environment for new development.

Background: With a population of approximately 45,000, Moline is the largest city in Rock Island County, . It is one of the , four mid-sized midwestern cities that straddle the , 165 miles west of Chicago. With its neighboring cities of Bettendorf, ; Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois, the area population is almost 400,000, the largest urban area between Minneapolis and St. Louis.

Moline’s local economy has a strong corporate presence, including John Deere and KONE, Inc. A recent two-phase, $48 million expansion of Western Illinois University has added a new state university campus to the downtown riverfront. Nearby, IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union construction of its $26m headquarters is scheduled for completion this fall. Downtown hosts the John Deere Pavilion, a visitor and discovery center; as well as a number of national chain hotels and commercial developments. A portion of downtown Moline is a National Register Historic District. The , home of the First Army Headquarters, employs approximately 6,000 individuals on a 950-acre island immediately adjacent to downtown Moline.

Downtown Moline is experiencing a renaissance due to a renewed interest in urban and riverfront living. Completion of the Skinner Block Lofts, the LeClaire Hotel, Berglund Flats, Phillips Lofts and Enterprise lofts have resulted in mixed income and mixed-use development successes that have been a model for downtown redevelopment. Additionally, the restoration of important historic buildings is underway or recently completed. There is a strong interest in adding residential to downtown. Page 2 of 10

Quad Cities Arts & Culture: The Quad Cities is an area that supports art and artists. Moline hosts a number of outdoor festivals annually and is an active part of the Quad Cities’ vibrant arts, craft beer and music scene.

Art Experiences: The Quad City Arts Council is an arts advocacy organization that began as a visual arts gallery and re-granting program for local arts; and expanded into an educational residency program for multi-disciplinary arts. Its current programs include a visiting artist series, the Metro Arts program that provides teens paid apprenticeships in the arts, and a sculpture loan program.

A number of different venues offer opportunities to see and experience art. These include , Children’s Museum, Midcoast Fine Arts, Bucktown Center for the Arts, local universities and the , among others. The annual Beaux Arts Fair draws art lovers from around the region. Alternating Currents is a new music and performance art venue hosting over 100 performances and a dozen venues. In its third year, the scene includes art, comedy, film and music and is enjoying remarkable success.

Other live music experiences are available as well. The Quad City Symphony Orchestra is one of the first orchestras established west of the Mississippi River, and has enjoyed almost 100 years of performances and visiting soloists. Live music can be heard in many smaller venues, or at the (RME) and the 12,000 seat TaxSlayer Center. The Mississippi Valley Blues Fest and annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival brings thousands of music lovers to the Quad Cities for a weekend every summer.

Ballet Quad Cities is the only professional company in all of Iowa and western Illinois and has company dancers from throughout the U.S., Canada, and Cuba. Throughout the year, they perform in February, April, Ballet Under the Stars in June, October, and The Nutcracker during the holidays.

The Quad Cities is home to a number of theatres, including New Ground Theatre, Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse and Playcrafters Barn Theatre all feature theatrical presentations throughout the year. The Quad City Music Guild has an over 60-year tradition of performing Broadway musicals in the Prospect Park Auditorium in Moline, exclusively using Quad Cities’ area performers. There are Page 3 of 10 many other small theatres in the area, including the Black Box Theatre, Genesius Guild Theatre, Spotlight Theatre and others.

A Significant Opportunity: Moline has a unique opportunity to enhance and create a memorable arrival experience in its downtown. A $1.2 billion I-74 bridge connecting Illinois and Iowa over the Mississippi is currently under construction. Aesthetic features of the bridge include a 14-foot bike and pedestrian path, LED lighting and a scenic overlook that includes illuminated vertical identity elements. Additionally, when the existing bridge is demolished on the Illinois side, more than 13 acres of downtown/riverfront property will be offered http://i74riverbridge.com for redevelopment (See Attachment A). The City would like to use space created in these new areas, at least in part, for public art.

Renew Moline: Renew Moline, is an award-winning, non-profit economic development organization devoted to working with the City of Moline on riverfront and other development. Renew Moline is the link between the development community; elected officials and staff; regional and state economic development partners; local businesses; and business owners and entities interested in investment in Moline. Partnering with the City of Moline to implement the City’s comprehensive plan and creating a vibrant downtown, especially as it relates to the riverfront, are Renew Moline’s priorities.

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The Public Art Master Plan

Scope of Work and Budget: The City and Renew seek individuals and firms (“Consultant”) experienced in creating master plans for art and/or directing strategic planning within the arts community. The Public Art Master Plan will be developed in a public, transparent and collaborative process and will apply to the Moline Centre Plan area and limited (three to four) “special areas” in adjacent neighborhoods (See Attachment B). The consultant shall produce a detailed and illustrative document to be considered for adoption by the Moline City Council. Ultimately, the document should generally:

• Define and describe public art, to educate and inform the public about the role of art in community building; • Inventory existing public art assets and features; • Establish and promote a clear vision for public art that aligns with the City’s economic development and urban design goals; • Identify opportunity areas and specific locations for art with an emphasis on enlivening public spaces, creating a sense of place; unifying and identifying neighborhoods, and respecting the city’s historical and physical characteristics. These can be “gateways”, connections to the riverfront and between neighborhoods, and/or physical structures but should be descriptive enough to encourage and guide the implementation of art features in the public realm; • Create public art policies and criteria for review of public art gifts; • Recommend a process for the implementation of the plan, including solicitation and selection of artwork and a governance structure; and • Identify costs and potential funding sources for public art features/elements.

Tasks and Work Program

Task 1 –Meetings and Administration: • Attend kickoff meeting with City and Renew staff to review contracted scope of work, schedule and roles and responsibilities; • Project and contract management tasks necessary to complete all tasks; and • Meet throughout the contract period with project team consisting of City and Renew staff as well as a nine-member Steering Committee (anticipated at least four times but no more than six). Videoconferencing is available for most meetings.

Task 1 Deliverables: • Conduct kickoff meeting (agenda, agenda approval, meeting activity and summary) • Project schedule for endorsement by client • Accounting, invoicing, monitoring and completing tasks and reporting progress • Meeting summary (including task list) and schedule update for each meeting Page 5 of 10

• Meeting with Steering Committee to review purpose, process and progress (may be conducted with project team meetings and/or site visit).

Task 2 – Background Research • Review Moline City Plans pertaining to Moline Centre to identify potential locations, corridors and themes for public art. Plans include: Moline Centre Plan, Moline Comprehensive Plan Updates, Moving Moline Forward Plan, Moline Streetscape Master Plan, 7th Avenue Reconstruction & Connector Project, River Drive Corridor Study, River to River Corridor Study, Moline Centre Design Guidelines, Moline Park Master Plan); • Conduct site visit; • Identify existing programs and activities related to public art in both Moline (and the Quad Cities, where applicable to Moline); • Provide “best practices” research and application in Moline to guide development of the Public Art Master Plan; and • Assemble a catalogue of no more than five successful Public Art Master Plans from similarly sized cities throughout the country. These plans should act as relevant examples and have evident results by which to gauge success and should include a variety of potential (and feasible) funding sources for implementation of a public art master plan.

Task 2 Deliverables: • Existing Conditions, Inventory and Opportunities Report (or chapter of the Plan); • List of Best Practices for potential inclusion in the Public Art Master Plan; and • Electronic catalogue of Public Art Master Plans to reference and inform the development of Moline’s Public Art Master Plan.

Task 3 – Public Participation • In collaboration with City staff, identify stakeholders (business, community and neighborhood leaders) for interviews; and conduct up to ten individual and group interviews with key stakeholders to assess matters of importance; and to elicit “thematic” and historical information; • One or more public meeting(s), focus group(s) or engagement activity to inform the development of a public art plan; • One meeting of the Steering Committee to discuss stakeholder input received and direction resulting from input; and • Participation in public meetings (two anticipated) as part of consideration by Plan Commission and City Council.

*Meetings may be conducted by videoconference, where appropriate.

Task 3 Deliverables: • List of stakeholders and schedule of interviews; Page 6 of 10

• Execution and summaries of stakeholder interviews; • Announcements, materials and presentation graphics necessary to conduct public outreach; • One or more successfully completed public meetings with a Summary of Findings for each; and • Preparation for and participation in Plan Commission and City Council hearings to consider adoption of the Plan.

Task 4 – Draft Public Art Master Plan Produce a narrative and illustrative document that will provide policy guidance and recommendations on public art throughout downtown Moline. The graphic quality, innovation and clarity of this document is paramount. A Public Art Master Plan should do all of (but not be limited to) the following: • Indicate how art can both “brand” and enhance the public experience downtown, potentially through an arts district; • Be both inspirational and aspirational; • Illustrate areas and ways that public art can enhance connections between neighborhoods and activity centers; • Identify “best practice” principles and processes that can govern the inclusion of art in projects based on research of small to mid-sized cities that have active and successful arts programs; • Program specific locations where public art can enhance the urban experience and create gateways and/or corridors (via sculpture, murals, structural, streetscape and other types of art); and • Educate decisionmakers and the public about ways to fund and implement public art; and • Recommend a process and governance structure for public art administration, and an alternative process if no formal structure is feasible.

Task 4 Deliverable: Public Art Master Plan for Downtown Moline including all maps and graphics necessary to convey concepts described in the Plan.

Budget: Through grants and identified funding, the budget for this work is approximately $50,000.

Selection of Consultant(s): The Public Art Master Plan RFQ is open to professional arts consultants (individually or in partnership with others), urban designers and/or planners with experience in development, administration and management of public art plans and initiatives.

Statement of Qualifications and Proposal: Consultants are asked to submit a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) consisting of the following: Page 7 of 10

1. Cover letter signed by an officer of the firm authorized to execute contracts with the City and/or Renew Moline; 2. A summary of the Consultant’s qualifications, years in business, location of office(s) and areas of expertise along with those of any proposed subconsultants; 3. A list of pertinent projects or contracts involving similar scopes of work provided for a public agency or non-profit development partner (including client references and total contract amount). Please include name(s) of primary staff that worked on each project along with a brief description of the role of each person; 4. Proposed contract amount. Please include billing rates for each classification of staff member, as well as reimbursables and fees (i.e. overhead, printing, markup for subs and any other cost not included in billing rates); and 5. Any other information that would assist the City and Renew in evaluating SOQs (limited to two pages total).

Evaluation of Submittals: SOQs will be evaluated by a panel consisting of City and Renew Moline staff, with input from the Public Art Steering Committee representatives. Selection will be made based on: • Experience and demonstrated competence on similar projects as evidenced by the successful adoption of public art plans and/or programs; • Knowledge and experience of key staff with a demonstrated ability to: o Produce documents of extremely high graphical quality, clarity and attractiveness; o Establish a vision for public art discerned from engaging with the Steering Committee and the public; o Craft a compelling and cohesive Public Art Master Plan to promote an experience of public art that transcends age, income, language or physical ability; and • Ability to complete work within existing budget constraints.

Submittal Timeline: Consultant shall submit three (3) hard copies and (1) one electronic copy of the Statement of Qualifications to:

Renew Moline Attn: Alexandra Elias, AICP 1506 River Drive Moline, IL 61265 [email protected]

Submittals shall be received no later than Tuesday, October 8, 2019.

Working Schedule: RFQ issued: Tuesday, September 10, 2019 Deadline for submittals: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 Evaluation: Wednesday, October 9-Monday, October 14, 2019 Consultant notification & contract negotiation: Wednesday, October 16- Thursday, October 24, 2019 Page 8 of 10

Notice to Proceed: Friday, October 25, 2019.

Other: All Statements of Qualifications become the property of the Renew Moline and the City upon submission. This RFQ does not commit Renew Moline and/or the City to select a Consultant, to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a SOQ for this request, or to produce or contract for services. Renew Moline and the City reserve the right to accept or reject any or all SOQs received as a result of this request, or to modify or cancel in part or in its entirety the RFQ if the City determines it is in the best interest of Renew Moline and/or the City Moline to do so.

Questions related to this RFQ should be directed to: Alexandra Elias, President & CEO, Renew Moline Tel: 309.762.9190; email: [email protected]

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ATTACHMENT A

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ATTACHMENT B