Dock demolition likely to be delayed

The developer of the former Dock site is asking the Davenport City Council for an extension to an agreement requiring that the former restaurant be demolished by year's end.

Todd Raufeisen said "significant resistance" by the city's Levee Improvement Commission delayed the overall timeline for the project, and spring flooding could add significant cost to site preparation. He is asking aldermen to give him until March to tear the building down.

The matter is not yet scheduled for a council vote, but it is expected in January after the deadline has come and gone.

City Administrator Craig Malin said Monday that the delays in reaching a development agreement were taken into consideration when finishing the deal. The developer will not be assessed a penalty, he wrote in an email, adding, "Davenports an investment friendly place."

Raufeisen said that suggesting a deadline change was too risky.

"The development agreement never was tweaked, even though we had all those delays with the Levee Commission" he said Monday. "If we tried to change the dates, it could have delayed the whole process because it's possible any amendments would have required public input."

The demolition delay should not suggest that work is not being done on the site, he said, adding that he has met several times with city engineering staff to plan a flood-proof demolition process. He also has met with officials from the Rhythm City Casino, the Dock's downriver neighbor, to work out access issues.

"We have well over $400,000 invested in this puppy right now," he said of the project. "We wouldn't be spending that money if we weren't confident."

The deadline extension will eliminate the possibility of adding another $100,000 or more to the demolition cost, he said.

"If we were to demolish the building now, winter conditions prevent us from completing the caissons, infrastructure and future parking lot immediately thereafter," he wrote in letter to Malin dated Friday. "If the Dock building were to be demolished and backfilled without the building footprint and site being protected by new concrete, a typical spring flood event could cause siltation inside the existing crawl space or could cause the new fill material to be compromised by siltation or flood waters.

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Dock demolition likely to be delayed