The Wild Mile - Brilliance on the Chicago River

“Every curious question asked or seed of wonder planted on a visit to The Wild Mile reminds us why the work we do is so important.”

“We are transforming urban waterways into wildlife sanctuaries, where students from across Chicago can learn about science, conservation and local ecosystems through a range of educational programs, including field trips, workshops and more.”

“This year we have educated over 1,000+ students on free field trips to the Wild Mile.”

“We aim to build both our capacity to host and our network of students we can bring to the Wild Mile.”

- Urban Rivers (www.urbanriv.org)

The Chicago River has a unique history. It is a narrow, slow-moving river that bends through the City of Chicago in dramatic ways. It offers brief glimpses into the uniqueness, the history, and evolution of my city. Over the last decade, I have witnessed its dramatic evolution into a centerpiece of Chicago and a next generation park system. In downtown, it is a vibrant public waterfront and through the neighbourhoods, it is emerging as a rich river ecology, inviting all, both human and the wild, to visit.

The Chicago River is not a major river; in fact it is only 156 miles long and 800 feet at its widest point. It was, historically, a slow-moving paddle river that helped indigenous communities connect between the watersheds of the Great Lakes and the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. It proved to be a vital connection between these two major North American watersheds as European settlers advanced through the Midwest. As the City of Chicago grew, the river was transformed into an industrial canal and the flow was changed to carry sewage waste away from Chicago and Lake Michigan and into the Mississippi River and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. The agricultural and urban waste from this river system has contributed to the creation of the low oxygen ‘dead zone’ in the Gulf at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

A Shift from Industry to Recreation and Restoration

I have seen this river transform along its north, south and main branches. Along the north branch, on the east edge of Horner Park, for example, extensive native plantings are now attracting bird life and bringing people through tall grass-lined trails to the river’s edge. It has been a great success for the neighbourhood, and a dramatic demonstration of what is possible.  The creation of the sweeping riverfront Ping Tom Park in Chinatown has become a community centerpiece, opening distinctive views of industrial lift bridges and water taxi stops, which help to link this community to the central city.   

Recently, I witnessed the dramatic rebirth of the river’s centerpiece, the main branch, with Carol Ross Barney’s Chicago Riverwalk, a 1.25-mile-long path that is attracting thousands of people to the edge of the river every year, along with kayaking tours, private boats, joggers, cafes and city walkers. These are not one-off efforts. They are all a part of a broader vision to bring the river back to the people of Chicago as a healthy, ecological asset and collection of unique river parklands.

With the future Lincoln Yards to the north and The 78 mixed use project to the south, along with the University of Illinois Discovery Partners Institute, Chicagoans will be seeing more open space, more public access, and more boat and kayak launches soon. Organisations such as Friends of the River, Openlands, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, and many community organisations have advocated for years that Chicago needs to wake up to the Chicago River as an asset for all.

The river corridor is shifting from an industrial channel, polluted and void of life, to a rich, river ecology and recreational river that is providing wildlife habitat and community access to nature. It is a remarkable transformation.

The river corridor is shifting from an industrial channel, polluted and void of life, to a rich, river ecology

Innovation on the River

One of the most unique additions to the river has been provided by the not for profit, ‘Urban Rivers’ and has evolved from an innovative student research project. A volunteer-based organisation, committed to rewilding the Chicago River in unique ways, Urban Rivers is in the process of creating a mile-long wildlife sanctuary. Their actions include the construction of new, public floating rafts, which create places for all forms of wildlife. The organisation has built a series of connected floating raft wetlands that contain a variety of native plants that attract wildlife as well as cleanse the polluted waters. It is ecological, innovative and prioritises wildlife first. It is the first ever, mile-long floating eco-park in the world and it is called ‘The Wild Mile’. If you have not seen it, it is worth a visit.

As industry moved into the region, the river was lined with steel banks to promote large barge traffic and the movement of raw materials. Now that heavy, water-based industry has declined and left the region, Urban Rivers is figuring out how to live with the vertical steel walls, yet re-introduce ecological wetland systems that have long been missing. So far they have covered over 15,000 sq/ft (15,946) and have planted around 20,000 plants, including replants.

River otters, snapping turtles, fresh water mussels, blue herons and many other birds traveling along the Mississippi Flyway regularly visit these new wetlands.

The floating gardens are along the east side of Goose Island, just north of downtown, between Division St. and North Ave. The Wild Mile will eventually stretch from the old Montgomery Ward warehouses to the North Avenue Turning Basin. It presents the unique opportunity to create accessible open public space for the community and a rich wetland habitat. The Wild Mile strategy is outlined in the Wild Mile Framework Plan, which you can download at framework.urbanriv.org

Community Driven

The Wild Mile is a component of a broader community driven vision, which was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission. However, the community input process for the framework plan was implemented between 2018-19. The Plan envisions a 17-acre in-stream river park to be one of the defining public open spaces for the modernisation of the North Branch Industrial Corridor. This idea was proposed previously as part of the 2004 Chicago Central Area Plan. The wetland gardens, outlined over the course of many community meetings, builds on the vision of a renewed urban ecology for the City of Chicago and helps to generate cleaner, healthier water and more vibrant wildlife ecosystems as the river transforms into a new park system for the City.

The community’s input, feedback, authorship and involvement in construction, has been vital to creating new access to the river, educational and recreational opportunities and diverse habitat.

Their (Urban Rivers) actions include the construction of new, public, floating rafts, which create places for all forms of wildlife

A Broad Partnership and Renewed Neighbourhood

Community and industry collaboration in the Wild Mile project is impressive. The Shedd Aquarium, for example, has teamed with Urban Rivers, studied the evolving habitat, monitored plant life, and continues to host ‘Kayak for Conservation’ tours for visitors.

One can paddle along the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River, guided by a Shedd nature expert. These eco-kayak tours offer you the opportunity to look nature in the eye, learn about innovative efforts to improve the health of the Chicago River for wildlife and help keep the river clean, all while taking in the beauty of the City.

One can come and visit the first section of the floating boardwalk by car, bike, or CTA bus and rail transit. The Wild Mile is open 24 hours a day and provides ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility to the river level and the river walkways. I tend to visit it at various times of the day and evening.

For years, this river has not allowed much public access and has always seemed to flow behind buildings, along loading docks or past waste management facilities, below the street level, and is often difficult to access or even see. Now, the river is finding its new identity with improved accessibility.

Other partners of this Urban Rivers effort include: The Chicago Botanic Garden, the City of Chicago, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), Biomatrix Water, National Geographic, Kayak Chicago, Patagonia, REI Co-op, Molson Coors Beverage Co., Schwemm Family Foundation, Spence Restoration Nursery, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP., Omni Ecosystems, Near North Unity Program and Neighbor Space.

As the Wild Mile continues to grow, it is finding itself in the middle of an emerging urban, mixed-use district. Where once there were one-storey industrial buildings, there are now multiple high-rise housing towers sprouting up, new theatres, new markets and restaurants. Soon, the Wild Mile will be the ‘central park’ for this emerging neighbourhood. I believe that the floating gardens will add tremendous value to the surrounding district.

Broader Ripple Effects

In addition to the Wild Mile, other floating raft gardens are being developed now by the Urban Rivers team along other parts of the river. The first private industrial property in Chicago to add in-stream habitat as part of their development, Prologis, a real estate investment trust company, is adding rafts along property located on the South Branch of the Chicago River. Urban Rivers has collaborated with them to design and build a floating garden as part of their development plan. This is the first industrial property in Chicago to incorporate in-stream habitat as part of their development. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a greater trend.

The new river garden provides over 600 square feet of wetland habitat in an active industrialised area. The native landscape provides food and shelter for insects and birds, and the roots provide refuge for all manner of aquatic species. The roots also filter and absorb pollutants from the water, directly improving the water quality around the garden.

Urban Rivers collaboration with Prologis showcases the power of public-private partnerships in addressing the challenges of urbanisation and environmental conservation. This garden serves as an example of what can be achieved when non-profit organisations and private companies come together with a shared commitment to create a more sustainable and vibrant urban landscape.

The new archipelago of floating islands is an impressive example of providing quality wetland habitat for wildlife

Bubbly Creek is another area where Urban Rivers is involved. Bubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River. Bubbly Creek was historically one of the most polluted sections of the Chicago River, a site for significant waste from Chicago’s meat packing industry. Urban Rivers is targeting this infamous section of the river to demonstrate Chicago’s ability to come together and revitalise another degraded waterway. For several weeks in 2022, hundreds of volunteers and community members turned out to help assemble, bolt, fill, and plant the garden raft modules for this project that is also funded by Shedd Aquarium.

The new archipelago of floating islands is an impressive example of providing quality wetland habitat for wildlife, both above and below the water’s surface where the river does not have natural edges.

The floating gardens also transform this industrialised waterway for surrounding urban communities. Access to nature and green spaces is not equally distributed in Chicago, and marginalised communities on the south and west sides of the City have been disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation and pollution. The floating gardens improve environmental quality and create new opportunities for communities to connect with the Chicago River. The floating gardens were built by and for the community, and now local residents have beautiful spaces to learn, recreate, and take back ownership of their environment.

Next Steps

The next phase of the floating garden effort will be impressive. The Wild Mile will expand and double in size in 2024-25. In addition, the Urban Rivers team will add additional islands to the archipelago along the south branch at Bubbly Creek with more programmes, including free kayaking programmes for the local communities,

Funding for future phases has come from The National Fish and Wildlife Fund, The Shedd Aquarium, City of Chicago and Federal dollars.

Urban Rivers is also looking at how other cities and their urban rivers can benefit from the floating rafts strategy. One of the broader goals is to enable other communities to build their own ‘wild miles’ in their cities to help green their waterways, bring nature back to river systems that have been highly industrialised and partner with other public agencies and communities to offer training and education programmes.

Urban Rivers is a remarkable organisation, and their project, The Wild Mile, is an example of what is possible when innovative thought and design combine with ecological restoration. The floating gardens are now welcoming visitors from all over the world to enjoy the world’s first floating eco-park. Our industrialised rivers, need to be restored, especially as we experience increased cloudburst weather patterns, increased urban flooding, loss of wildlife habitat, and urban heat islands.

Recently, the Wild Mile project was exhibited in South Korea as part of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism.