ALTON, Ill. — Yellowstone. Grand Canyon. Gateway Arch. Great Rivers? An Alton company is hoping to transform their riverfront into the next national park.
"We discovered there's 20 different public entities that hold land here," AltonWorks Senior Executive Kiku Obata told 5 On Your Side. "Why not just bring it all under the National Park Service so there's consistent trails, consistent amenities."
A new National Park less than 25 miles from Gateway Arch National Park is a lofty dream, but the social impact development company AltonWorks think they can do it.
"We own 34 properties along main street and we just believe that outdoor recreation is really important to people," Obata said. "We want to create a city where people have recreation, leisure activities. They have a main street. There's a lot of different housing stock here. We want to have a city where you can do everything."
To do everything, AltonWorks, has an eight-step plan for the riverfront that would lead to a National Park - Great Rivers.
1 - Improve cruise ship mooring area and amenities
2 - Update the marina
3 - Add a concrete boardwalk along the riverfront
4 - Connect the riverfront and downtown with a bike trail
5 - Build out the great lumber site with family activities
6 - Build a flood-proof bike park
7 - Upgrade Russell Commons Park
8 - Optimize the amphitheater
The list of riverfront improvements does hinge on one big thing: relocating Argosy casino... and not to the waterfront. "I think it would be difficult to say this is the front door to a national park if you have a casino right there," Obata said.
Going from Riverfront Park to National Park takes a lot of work, but every plan has to start somewhere.
Obata explained, "The National Park Service does what they call a reconnaissance study and it takes about two years. They just make sure everything is in place that they could make that happen."