CULTURAL ANCHOR OF THE DOWNTOWN RIVERWALK REOPENS
Group uses innovative Michigan Avenue Bridgehouse to tells river’s - and Chicago’s - story

CHICAGO—As the city with the most movable bridges in the world, Chicago is home to many bridge houses, yet only one opens its doors every summer to welcome the public. Starting May 1, visitors can once again climb the five stories of the southwest bridgehouse of the Michigan Avenue Bridge, arguably one of the city’s most beautiful - and certainly the only one that houses its own museum. Opening celebrations on May 1 include the opportunity for lunchtime museum visitors to help release 200 baby fish into the river between noon and 1 p.m.

In 2006, Friends of the Chicago River opened the McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum inside this landmark bridge tower to celebrate the history of the river and help tell the story of the outsized characters, innovations and accomplishments that built modern Chicago. As summer arrives, the Bridgehouse Museum swings open the tower’s wrought iron gates, located on the riverwalk, to reveal the natural and cultural story of the river that was central to Chicago’s development.

Friends uses the museum to inform and inspire thousands of visitors to protect and improve the Chicago River. Inside the Bridgehouse Museum, visitors discover the fascinating story of how the Chicago River changed with the growth of the city it inspired. Initial rapid development turned the river into an eyesore and a health hazard, setting the stage for modern-day community efforts that have significantly improved the quality of its water and banks. With collective, ongoing stewardship, the river’s beauty and habitat are being restored, as the magnificent views from the top floor of the Bridgehouse Museum reveal. Starting in 2009, the main stem of the river will even be enhanced by the new Chicago Riverwalk.

Visitors can watch the giant gears that lift the 200-ton bridge - from inside

The museum also showcases the bridgeworks of the Michigan Avenue Bridge - the most famous of Chicago’s bascule bridges - and visitors can watch the gears at work when the bridge lifts. In addition, Friends will once again anchor its floating Michigan Avenue Fish Hotel on the river in front of the museum gates. This “hotel” provides the fish in the downtown portion of the Chicago River a safe place where they can hide and feed among aquatic plants, as their ancestors did centuries ago. Today, this part of the river provides little if any shelter for the fish that traverse it. Friends educates visitors who come to watch the fish about wildlife in the river and their ideal habitat.
The Bridgehouse Museum, seasonal and open during the summer, is open Thursdays through Mondays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., through October. Admission is $3. Children under 5 years enter free.

Friends of the Chicago River is a nonprofit organization with 2,000 members that works to foster the vitality of Chicago River for the plants, animals and people that share its watershed. The McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum boosts Friends’ education and outreach efforts. For information on how to become a Friend visit our website at www.chicagoriver.org or by calling Friends of the Chicago River at (312) 939-0490. For more information about the Bridgehouse Museum, visit www.bridgehousemuseum.org.

On May 2nd, the McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum will be one of 100 venues to open its doors afterhours as part of Looptopia, Chicago’s all-night cultural extravaganza. More than 100,000 people are expected to join the celebration this year. The Bridgehouse Museum will be open from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. and admission will be free. After climbing the five stories and discovering the river’s—and Chicago’s—history, visitors will have the rare chance to enjoy the night time city and river views from the fifth floor.

Organized by the Chicago Loop Alliance, Looptopia is America’s premier dusk-until-dawn artistic and cultural celebration featuring 14 hours of arts, culture, architecture, and more. Inspired by “White Night” events in cities like Rome and Paris, Looptopia made its wildly successful debut as the first American event of its kind last year. This year, the event has expanded to include venues on the Chicago River’s Downtown Riverwalk, including the Bridgehouse Museum at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive and a temporary Around the Coyote Riverwalk Gallery at the corner of Wacker Drive and Wabash Street.

In 2006, Friends of the Chicago River first opened the Bridgehouse Museum to celebrate the history of the river and help tell the story of the outsized characters, innovations and accomplishments that built modern Chicago. Since then, thousands of people have climbed the five stories of the landmark bridgehouse and discovered the natural and cultural story of the river that was central to Chicago’s development. Friends opens the doors of the museum every summer to inform and inspire thousands of visitors to protect and improve the Chicago River.

May 1 marks the 2008 season opening of McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum. To celebrate, a fish liberation ceremony symbolizing the return of wildlife to the Chicago River is planned. For $5, visitors are invited to adopt a baby bluegill, name it if they wish, and release it into the Main Stem of the river just outside the museum’s entrance. The ceremony takes place between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. on the Riverwalk in front of the museum.

Opening weekend events continue Friday, when the Bridgehouse Museum participates in Looptopia - Chicago’s dusk-to-dawn cultural celebration. Museum doors will stay open afterhours on May 2nd and admission will be free between 5 PM and 9 PM. The celebration wraps up on Saturday, May 3, when the first 30 guests to sign up can view the bridge lift for the regular admission price of $3, instead of $10. Please call Ozana at 312.939.0490, ext. 23, if you would like to reserve a spot.