Hoping to secure the 2016 Olympics and find space for more boaters, the Chicago Park District is putting efforts to build two — and possibly three — new harbors on the fast track.
It’s the first time since 2000 that a new harbor would be built in the city, where Park District officials say 500 boaters are waiting for slips.
The new marinas near Navy Pier, 31st Street and at the site of the former USX steel mill in South Shore would add 2,230 new slips to the city and cost more than $120 million, according to park officials. Chicago has nine harbors with a total of 5,100 slips.
The 31st Street harbor has been proposed as the site for Olympic sailing competitions.
Parks officials said Tuesday that they are forging ahead with a financial analysis to determine whether they can pay for the construction of the harbors. They plan to issue bonds to pay for the project, which would be repaid with mooring fees.
In addition to sorting out financing, parks officials have to clear the projects with federal regulators and hold public hearings. If approved, construction could begin on at least two of the harbors in 2009.
The proposals will be discussed at Wednesday’s park board meeting.
The 31st Street location, a potential Olympic site, would include about 830 new slips and require adding a new breakwater south of the existing beach pier.
“The 31st Street Harbor is good news for us,” said Patrick Sandusky, spokesman for Chicago 2016. “It’s one of the things that will help our chances as we move forward to a 2009 decision.”
Officials estimate it will cost $42 million for a new harbor with a multi-use facility for boaters and the public at the 31st Street site.
The Navy Pier location, at what is popularly known as Dime Pier, is being proposed for larger boats and transient boaters — people sailing into Chicago from around the Great Lakes and beyond.
With up to 400 slips and concession and comfort stations for boaters, the new harbor, called Chicago Gateway Harbor, has been priced at about $24 million. The third location near 87th Street would help spark a much-needed revitalization of the South Shore, officials said. The USX mill was closed in 1992 and the Park District has been discussing for some time the need to build a harbor there. A harbor would add approximately 1,000 new slips to the system and be the most expensive of the projects at up to $58 million. The financial analysis will help park officials determine if boaters are willing to travel that far south of downtown or if there’s enough interest from boaters in neighboring Indiana and the South Side to make the harbor viable.
