The less-than-incendiary Great Chicago Fire festival made recent riverfront headlines. If you want to check out a spectacle of a different kind, join the crowds oohing and aahing as workers build the $100 million Chicago Riverwalk extension, slated for 2016 completion. This new segment will extend from State to Lake, incorporating six themed sections delineated by the bridges, ranging from “The Jetty” fishing area to “The Cove” kayak dock to “The Swimming Hole” water play zone. It’s mesmerizing to watch towering cranes on barges driving long pilings and dropping huge loads of gravel to widen the shoreline. Sure, a barge sinks now and then, but that’s part of the excitement.
