Saturday, September 19, 2015

Davenport Iowa QC Co-Lab Makerspace Has Greatly Expanded!

Today I was fortunate enough to have great driving weather to go see the new Davenport Iowa QC Co-Lab makerspace's new location.  To say this building will have more breathing space than their old space is an understatement to the extreme.  Their original makerspace was 3000 square feet.  The new space is eight times that size being a whopping 24000 square feet!  I practically needed a map to walk my way through the maze of offices and work areas that this new space will have once all the renovation and moving in of equipment has been completed. 


The new location of the QC Co-Lab is in downtown Davenport Iowa in this rather ordinary looking building that once was a car dealership.  Along with all of the square footage that the new location sports there is also a dock door entrance large enough to drive a big truck through and a service area big enough to do a major rebuild of the vehicle if that is the project of interest. 

 
Tons of open space in this building.  Several of the members of the makerspace have their own offices that they can work on their individual projects and keep personal things under lock and key. 


This is just one small section of the building with every door shown here leading to an office / workspace.  Looks kind of like a dormitory for a university.  Well lit with loads of potential for this huge makerspace.


This is an interesting feature also in the building.  It has a working service elevator that is capable of handling the weight of an entire car!  You could practically bring your car to work and park it outside of your own personal workspace office.  Talk about a top of the line feature for a makerspace.



Lots of work needs to be done as you can see by the photos above.  None of the equipment for the new space has been moved in yet as a million little details need to be worked out first  to get everything just right for it's members.


Here some of the members of the Co-Lab discuss  issues that need to  be addressed so that the final move to the building can get the makerspace up and running again for it's 38 members.  With all the space that is available they could triple the number of members and still not have a problem with people finding a place to work on their next project.



I thought moving into my house was a big job. This crew has their work cut out for them with all the furniture and the boxes of equipment that are already populating the space.   The major equipment for the makerspace is being stored in a warehouse until the building is dialed in for the grand opening coming up sometime in the near future. 




The makerspace will be an impressive setup once all of the work has been completed and all the equipment has been moved in.  Needless to say they will have plenty enough space for new members and from the looks of what I have seen it will be a great place to work on anything from pottery to electronics.  Both interests already have rooms ear marked for these interests and many more. 
   If you live near Daveport Iowa and would like to become a member I highly recommend doing so.  I was a member for a couple of years and live 1 1/2 hours away so it makes it difficult for me to be a current member now but I enjoyed working with this great group of people and I still stay in touch with them from time to time. Today was worth the drive to see first hand what is in store for the future of this great makerspace and the members of the QC Co-Lab.

Here's a link to the Co-Lab's website for more info about this makerspace and how to contact them to become a member.



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