As a sure sign of spring in Chicago, the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum (formerly called the McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum) re-opens for the season on May 15.

The Bridgehouse Museum, seasonal and open during the summer, is open Thursdays through Mondays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., through October 31. Admission to this unique museum is only $3, making it one of the best values in town. Children under 5 years enter free. This year, the museum’s front gates will swing open on a whole new vista: a brand new downtown Riverwalk offering an uninterrupted path between Lake Shore Drive and State Street. The Bridgehouse Museum is one of the first Riverwalk attractions to open this spring, with cafes, restaurants and other venues to follow. As the cultural anchor of the Riverwalk, the Bridgehouse Museum will also serve as the Riverwalk Information Center, where people can discover all that this new destination has to offer.

The Chicago River was once one of the busiest commercial waterways in the world, but today it is driving a new river economy. Hundreds of thousands of tourists discover Chicago’s beauty and famed architecture aboard river cruise boats, and increasing numbers of people are taking to the river’s waters in canoes and kayaks. The new Riverwalk is home to dining, bike rentals, retail boutiques and other attractions. Visitors to the Bridgehouse Museum become Chicago insiders as they discover that the river that sparked the growth of our city is now vying to become one of the great stories of successful urban river renewal.

Friends of the Chicago River opened the Bridgehouse Museum in 2006 to raise the profile of the river, teach people about their relationship to it, and build support for its continued recovery. Through the museum, Friends instills the message that the people of metropolitan Chicago have as vital a role in shaping the future of the Chicago River as they did its past.

The Bridgehouse Museum is located within the southwest tower of the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which is accessed from the Riverwalk level. Once inside the landmark bridge tower, guests can view the bridgeworks that still open and close Chicago’s most famous bridge. Exhibits on the museum’s five small floors bring to life the story of Chicago’s inextricable link with its namesake river. As the story of the river evolves through time, it reveals a concise history of Chicago as a city defined by vision, ingenuity, and determination.

In addition, museum staff will once again lead tours from the museum to the Fish Hotel, Friends’ signature habitat improvement project now located just east of the Dearborn Street Bridge. This “hotel” provides the fish in the downtown portion of the Chicago River a safe haven in which they can hide and feed among aquatic plants, since 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.