City to build 4 boathouses on Chicago River

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday announced the construction of four boathouses along the Chicago River in hopes of developing the city’s “next recreational frontier” on a waterway where more than half the volume is wastewater from sewage treatment plants.

The four boathouses, which cost about $4 million each, will provide kayaking and concessions, and will be built within two years, city officials said.

The idea is to pay more attention to Chicago’s other major body of water and “make the river not something you drive over, but something you bring your kids to,” Emanuel told reporters at a South Side park, one of the future boathouse sites, which will be funded half by private and half by city money.

Chicago officials have long focused on development along Lake Michigan with its gleaming parks and popular beaches. But the Chicago River — which snakes through the city and is used for commercial traffic, sightseeing boat tours and scores of paddlers — has received less attention, especially when the mere mention of the river water makes many residents cringe.

Only recently did the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago vote to disinfect wastewater from two plants following a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency letter to the Illinois Pollution Control Board calling for stricter water quality standards, including water that was safe for primary contact such as swimming. The district’s June vote was a shift from its position for years that a cleanup would be costly and could lead to more drownings and accidents because of increased recreational traffic.

It should take about four years to begin the process, according to district officials, and several more to finish it. A federal study has concluded the cost would be about $242 million.

Still, advocates who have sued the district are worried that disinfecting wastewater isn’t a guarantee the water will be swimmable. They note that there are other ways sewage can get into the water, such as when heavy rainfalls overwhelm the sewer system.

Emanuel and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, who also attended, declined to discuss in detail any concerns about water quality, saying many kayakers already make use of the river.

Since he took office in May, Emanuel has vowed to clean up the river, but he declined to address if the river would ever be swimmable.

“You’re not going to turn something around on a flip of a switch,” Emanuel said. “You’re going to make a series of investments that begin to make the river part of the city in a way that it’s never been.”

At least one environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, praised Emanuel’s plan on Monday. Officials from the group called it a sign that the city was committed to improving river quality and development.

“It fits into the consensus that the Chicago River needs to be a recreational asset and not an open sewer,” said Henry Henderson, a director of the group. “This is the next level of investment.”

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Sophia Tareen can be reached at http://twitter.com/sophiatareen