RIVER BLUE

Blue Ribbon Award Memorial Park Boathouse Johnson & Lee site design group, ltd.

The Ping Tom Memorial Park Boathouse was the first boathouse delivered under Mayor Emanuel’s promise to activate and engage the ’s system into the recreational community. The entire Ping Tom Memorial Park campus is visually connected to the River through its 2,200 feet of unobstructed River frontage. With the addition of the boathouse, the much needed physical connection to the water has been made possible for the public. The boathouse offers kayak rentals in the summer, a public dock that is available for use by non-motorized boatsand a new water taxi stop—all of which allows the surrounding community to access the Chicago River system.

This site also includes an innovative zero direct discharge of stormwater from the site and recently won an ACEC Illinois Engineering Excellence Award for Small Projects. The site’s innova- tive stormwater design is an inventive demonstration of the implementation of sustainable and en- vironmentally conscious design. Where the River meets the entrance to the landscape—the most treasured relationship in Chinese gardens—locally quarried holey limestone boulders, similar to the Taihu stones so venerated in Chi- nese landscapes, retain the adjacent grassy hills and create opportunities for seating & discovery.

Project Team Members Landscape Architect—Bradley McCauley, site design group, ltd. Architect—Christopher Lee, Johnson & Lee Architects Owner—Steffan Schoenauer, Chicago Park District Engineer— Jerry Polopowicz, TERRA Engineering Coastal Engineer—Bill Weaver, AECOM