Last week, shortly after sewage-laced floodwaters left Chicago’s brand-new stretch of the Riverwalk coated with something brown and squishy, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the launch of programming there to celebrate its grand opening.
Friends has been around since 1979, with a mission “to improve and protect the Chicago River system.” It played a major role in turning the river from the garbage dump it was to the recreational boon it’s becoming, and it also operates the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum at Michigan and Wacker Drive.
For now, the newly completed section, which runs from State to LaSalle, offers a pleasant chance to get close to this still-dicey water. Ostensibly three separate “rooms” (the Marina, the Cove, and the River Theater), it’s a vibrant basement-level concourse through a skyscraper canyon, echoing with the clatter of traffic. You can stop there for a beer or a glass of wine, rent a kayak, or just perch on a bench or on the steep stairs of the final block (which look like they’ll be treacherous in winter). At evening, with narrow bands of walkway light reflected in the rippling water and in metal panels that line the ceiling of the underpasses, it’s a dramatic change of scene.
The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events says it expects to have weekly Riverwalk music events starting mid-July. v
