And so the saga sort-of, maybe, kinda, possibly, ends. Or not. We’ll see. The Rock Island County courthouse saga has gone on for a couple of years now, with the county wanting to demolish the building and repurpose the spot just off Centennial Bridge, and a growing number of citizens calling for it to be sold to local developer Joe Lemon, who has been trying to buy it for over a year. We at QuadCities.com have covered this issue extensively, and if you want to get more of the details, I encourage you to listen to my various QCUncut podcasts of a meeting about the issue, an interview... Read More

The Rock Island County Courthouse battle will take a new turn at the County Board Meeting tonight. According to courthouse preservation advocate Bridget Ehrmann, local commercial real estate developer, Joe Lemon, will bring a $500,000 written offer to purchase the historic Rock Island County courthouse at the county board meeting at 5:30 p.m. at 1504 3rd Avenue on the 3rd floor.  The offer includes a purchase price of $500,000 and an agreement to invest $8 million into the restoration of the 124-year-old courthouse. That’s $8.5 million. In writing. And that, up to this point, has been one of... Read More