Acknowledgements

This vision and action agenda for the Chicago, Calumet and Des Plaines rivers was produced by the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), in close partnership with the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor, Friends of the Chicago River and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

The Great Rivers Chicago Leadership Commission, appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and a Resource Group comprised of professionals in water management, infrastructure, transportation, environment, planning, public safety, real estate development and industry dedicated hundreds of hours to share their expertise and perspectives.

More than 6,000 people who live, work and play along Chicago’s three rivers provided thoughtful and in-depth input through nine community meetings, more than 100 focus groups and an online survey that more than 3,800 people responded to.

We are immensely grateful to ArcelorMittal, The Boeing Company, The Chicago Community Trust, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and The Joyce Foundation for their generous support in establishing the vision for Great Rivers Chicago.

Ross Barney Architects, led by MPC Board member Carol Ross Barney, supported our place-based design charrettes and created renderings that bring the vision to life.

Friends of the Chicago River brought people to the river for direct engagement and surveying.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning supported our place-based design charrettes, and will support a second phase of work in late 2016, to engage some 20 suburban communities in examining how the vision can play out where they are.

Thanks also to Free Spirit Media, Wendella Boats and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) for making unique and valuable contributions to the effort.

Leadership commission

Michael Borgström
Wendella Boats
Grant Crowley
Crowley’s Yacht Yard
Naomi Davis
Blacks in Green
David Farren
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
Jeanne Gang
Studio Gang Architects
Todd Hudson
Illinois River Carriers Association
Allen LaPointe
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Suzanne Malec-McKenna
Chicago Wilderness
Paul Ozinga
Ozinga Bros., Inc.
Arnold Randall
Forest Preserves of Cook County
Hipolito (Paul) Roldán
Hispanic Housing Development Corporation
Rebekah Scheinfeld
Chicago Dept. of Transportation
President Mariyana Spyropoulos
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Kimberly Wasserman-Nieto
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
Michael Faron
W.E. O’Neil Construction Company
Michael Forde
Illinois International Port District
Michael Holzer
North Branch Works
Michael Kelly
Chicago Park District
Attorney General Lisa Madigan
State of Illinois
Dorri McWhorter
YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago
Howard Radzely
The Boeing Company
David Reifman
Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development
Carol Ross Barney
Ross Barney Architects
Alpana Singh
Restaurateur
Darryl Tom
Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
David Wong
Certare Ventures

Resource Group

Margaret Frisbie
Friends of the Chicago River
Co-Chair
Aaron Koch
City of Chicago Office of the Mayor
Co-Chair
Lenore Beyer-Clow
Openlands
Mark Bouman
The Field Museum
Joel Brammeier
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Cathy Breitenbach
Chicago Park District
David Bucaro
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Suellen Burns
Ill. Dept. of Natural Resources
Michelle Carr
The Nature Conservancy
Nelson Chueng
Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development
Lt. Lindsay Cook
U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety
Kathleen Dickhut
Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development
Ronald Dorneker
Chicago Fire Department
Bob Foster
Chicago Park District
John Friedman
North River Commission
Cathy B. Geraghty
Forest Preserves of Cook County
Luann Hamilton
Chicago Dept. of Transportation
Benet Haller
Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development
Brad McConnell
Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development
Peter Mulvaney
West Monroe Partners
Steve Pesticelli
Ill. Dept. of Natural Resources
Irwin Polls
Independent Consultant
Janis Sayer
Chicago Dept. of Public Health
Allison Schloss
Chicago Police Dept., Marine Unit
Ed Staudacher
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Deborah Stone
Cook County Dept. of Environmental Control
David Ullrich
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
Michelle Woods
Chicago Fleet and Facility Management
Louise Yeung
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

Staff

Josh Ellis
Director
Kara Riggio
Manager
Sarah Cardona
Associate

Mandy Burrell Booth
Communications Director
Enrique Castillo
Research Assistant
Yonah Freemark
Manager
Danielle Gallet
Manager
Ryan Griffin–Stegink
Assistant Communications Director
Chloe Gurin-Sands
Wayfinding Fellow
Leah Konrady
Research Assistant
Angie Leyva
Program Assistant
Elizabeth O’Brien
AmeriCorps VISTA Fellow
Kelley Pinnick
Research Assistant
Kelsey Pudlock
Project Consultant
Jose Requena
Allard Fellow
Madeline Shepherd
Associate
Daniel Wolf
Research Assistant

In addition to those listed, Metropolitan Planning Council thanks the numerous staff, research assistants and volunteers on our Board and committees that contributed to Great Rivers Chicago.