New Initiative Seeks To Open Chicago's Rivers To More Recreation
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Liam Durnan has rented canoes along the north branch of the Chicago River for 16 years, and from the once industrial corner, he now serves over 10,000 annually.
"The river had a terrible reputation when I first came to Chicago," Durnan tells CBS2's Vince Gerasole. "And now look at it."
But now, a new initiative seeks to clean the once-polluted, mostly industrial-use river and open up the waterways for more recreation.
The evolution of the Chicago River is even more pronounced in Downtown Chicago, where a festive riverwalk looks out over cleaner waters, and on a mix of water crafts of all sizes, sharing an increasingly busy waterway.
"As people start to use it they tell other people," Durnan, the owner of Chicago River Canoe and Kayak, says.
"It's a very crowded river...it's sort of our new gem," Eric Gierzynski of Shoreline Cruises said.
Now, the "Our Great Rivers" initiative, a mix of private and public stakeholders, seeks to expand the recreational opportunities. It's not a mandate, but it shows what the river could be by the year 2020. From nature trails to water purification and even swimming, they unveiled a hopeful blueprint for the future of Chicago's three rivers--the Chicago River, the Cal-Sag Channel and the DesPlaines River-- today.
The plan is, as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says, "opening up our river as a recreational space that was walled off for industry."
And though the new plan is welcome by many, the mix of pleasure boaters with heavier craft is a cause for concern, Gierzynski says. "Vessels like this one are larger and move faster than I think a lot of people understand. And also, they take more room to maneuver than some understand and that can lead to close calls."
Each individual project would have to find its own funding, but frequently, the funding could come through the federal government.
