Plans for a boat dock at Rockford's Davis Park are moving forward. Here's what we know

ROCKFORD — Boating enthusiasts may soon be cruising down the Rock River to dock at Davis Park on warm summer nights, walking to the Embassy Suites and having a drink overlooking the city from the 12th-floor rooftop lounge.

City officials will soon begin taking bids for seawall repairs and the construction of a floating boat dock at Davis Park north of the Fordham Dam.

"Davis Park is part of a strong, vibrant downtown that will be a benefit not only to the City of Rockford, but to the region," said state Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford. "I look at this as part of an important effort to build on improvements already downtown. This will make it an even more attractive place for people to live and work."

The dock is seen as an incremental first step toward rejuvenating a park that has never quite lived up to its potential of serving as Rockford's central gathering and entertainment hub.

Stadelman last year secured up to $450,000 in state capital improvement funding for the dock construction and seawall repair project. There had been hope the docks would be done last year, but it took longer than hoped to get all the approvals and for the money to be released.

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Rockford City Administrator Todd Cagnoni said although it is already summer and there are supply chain issues with most construction projects, there is still hope the docks could be completed this year.

Once complete, the docks should be able to accommodate four to six boats at a time, depending on how long the crafts are. The docks will measure 72-feet long and 16-feet wide. A gangway with safety railings would lead down from the park to the dock.

Cagnoni said the project would not have been possible without state funding. He said repairs of the seawall are necessary to give the docks a strong anchor.

"You don’t want to attach a dock to seawall that is going to fail or need to be replaced or you will be right back at construction after you are done," Cagnoni said. "So we took the approach that to have a comprehensive sustainable project, we need the seawall and docks together."

Jeff Kolkey: (815) 987-1374; jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Docks at Rockford's Davis Park could accommodate up to six boats