31st Street Harbor Gets An Extreme Makeover
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 1, 2012 9:00PM
For the past few years 31st Street harbor has been in the midst of a $103 million rehabilitation project that is nearing completion. When it's officially christened in June the new 31st Street harbor will feature 1,000 boat slips; a 222-vehicle parking garage with a green roof offering beautiful views of the Chicago skyline and Indiana; fully accessible playground and park expansion; underpass to separate vehicular traffic from cyclists and pedestrians on the Lakefront Trail; and a new public fishing pier and boat launch.
This makeover is part of the 2007 Chicago Lakefront Harbor Plan, which aims to transform the harbors along the lakefront into destinations, better link harbors to area amenities, provide security for boaters and non-boaters, and help spur economic development. (The harbors are among the biggest revenue generators for the Park District.)
The Sun-Times got a sneak peek at 31st Street Harbor and noted this is a scaled-down version of the plan. Had Chicago won the 2016 Summer Olympics, this project would have been greatly expanded. The cost of the project was funded by revenue bonds and Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey Faulkner told the Sun-Times that 300 of the 1,000 new slips are expected to be filled this season.
The Public Building Commission of Chicago shared some photos of the project in the Chicagoist photos Flickr pool; you can view their entire set here.