22-May-15 – At noon on Saturday, Chicagoans will get to see for themselves progress on a $98 million project to extend the Chicago Riverwalk to Lake Street.

Two stretches of Riverwalk, from State Street to Clark Street, will open to the public. A third stretch, from Clark to LaSalle, will open in the next two weeks, according to Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Rebekka Scheinfeld.

The “rooms” of the new Riverwalk opening on Saturday are Marina Plaza, which will have docks west of State Street for use by recreational boats, and The Cove, west of Dearborn Street, which will accommodate kayaks.

Construction of the last three rooms, connecting LaSalle to Lake Street, will begin this summer and be done by the end of 2016.

Scheinfeld, other CDOT officials, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel briefed reporters from an older part of the Riverwalk near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Friday afternoon.

Emanuel called the river “the next recreational frontier” for the city and says the Riverwalk will “dramatically change the trajectory of Chicago.”

(Left) Mayor Emanuel sits with ironworkers on high-back wooden seats being installed on the Riverwalk between State and Dearborn Streets.

“We’re going to open up a part of the city that has been closed for generations and it’s going to be something that people can enjoy for recreation, for entertainment, or just for the pure pleasure of sitting down on a gorgeous day like today, reading a book, having a cup of coffee or whatever kind of beverage you want, and then enjoying the waterfront.”

For about ten years, there have been plans for a riverfront walkway from Lake Michigan to Lake Street but, says the mayor, nothing happened.

“Through our good works and persuasive arguments, we were able to get the resources,” said Emanuel, “and now this opening on this Memorial Day break and finishing it…toward the middle of next year, about a year from now, we will have actually opened up the entire part…a little over a mile of river property that was never opened up, and that continuum will give people I think a chance to see and experience a part of the city they hadn’t before.”

(Right) A construction worker cuts granite for use as steps.

Emanuel says worldwide, values of property near water are 10-20 percent greater than property not close to water. It’s not an accident, he says, that since the city announced expansion of the Riverwalk, $7-8 billion in private development has been planned along the Chicago River.

The city announced this week there will be 14 businesses on the Riverwalk shortly, nine returning from last year and five new ones.

(Below) Emanuel poses with Pamela Harris of the city’s Department of Fleet and Facility Management (“2FM” for short). At far left, Michelle Woods, a 2FM project manager, and at right, Oswaldo Chaves.