Changing the channel

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The Calumet-Sag Channel is evolving from industrial waterway to recreation destination

By Maura Vizza

It is a warm day with blue skies and a light refreshing breeze for walkers on a trail. A trio of guys scrub their boat down after its long winter hibernation. Children run along a foliage-lined path, their squeals echoing off the trees.

It sounds like a nature sanctuary but it is actually a scene from a spring day along the Calumet-Sag Channel.

Development along and increased usage of the Cal-Sag as a recreational waterway has grown despite the common perception that it is a sewage cesspool. The channel stretches 16.2 miles from the Little Calumet River in Blue Island to its outlet at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Lemont. It is a man-made canal 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep dug along ancient glacial deposits between 1911 and 1922 by laborers and engineers hired by the Sanitary District of Chicago, now the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD).

The waterway was originally built to reverse the flow of the Calumet River and carry sewage away from Lake Michigan. As Chicago’s population boomed in the late 1800s the human waste flowing into the lake created a water-borne disease crisis, with cholera and typhoid killing thousands.

As the south suburban population grew so did the overflow of untreated sewage mixed with rain water that flooded sewage treatment plants and spilled into rivers and canals. Five Sidestream Elevated Pool Aeration (SEPA) stations were constructed along the Cal-Sag in the early 1990s to oxidize the water by diverting it over waterfalls.

Industrial waterway

The channel became a major commercial route in the Illinois Waterway System, which links Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. Barges containing cargo used the canal to get from the Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Calumet industrial district. In 1955 the canal was widened to 225 feet to accommodate growing barge traffic and relieve flooding problems.

Many barges use the canal to transfer products such as scrap metal, oil, sand and gravel to and from steel mills, refineries and industrial plants or to the near south end of Lake Michigan, said MWRD general superintendent Richard Lanyon. The Sanitary and Ship Canal is a popular destination for the barges, he added. Millions of tons of freight are floated each year on the Cal-Sag.

Blue Island, which banks the Cal-Sag on the north and south, houses a few industrial businesses along the waterway, including the Premcor oil refinery that closed several years ago. The industry along the water has decreased in Blue Island and there are long-term plans to create more environmentallyfriendly ventures such as a fish hatchery, warehouse space and bio-diesel plant near the old refinery, said Blue Island Mayor Donald Peloquin.

Move toward recreation Although the Cal-Sag has a history of use as a dump for sewage and industrial waste, cleanup efforts by the MWRD over the years have helped make it a recreational destination. There is less commercial navigation and more people using the channel during their leisure time, said Lanyon.

Blue Island is using the canal and all its potential opportunities, noted Peloquin. He wants recreational and industrial opportunities to coexist along the water and benefit the south and southwest suburbs. Peloquin has proposed rechristening the canal a river to help improve its reputation.

“We want to draw to the region and use the river as a tool with other towns to help each other,” explained Peloquin. “We don’t want to sit back, we want to capitalize.”

The aeration stations have lessened the water’s odors and pollution problems and made it an appealing selling point for housing, boaters and rowers. Fay’s Point is a new development of condominiums, townhouses, senior housing, a marina and riverwalk near the 13000 block of Western Avenue in Blue Island.

Nearly 700 new living units are being constructed along the Cal-Sag and the entire project should be complete within five years, said Blue Island marketing director Mary Poulsen.

Row, row, row your boat

Peloquin also brought rowing to the canal when he encouraged the Chicago Rowing Center (CRC) to move to Blue Island, said CRC coach Michael O’Gorman. The elite women’s rowing group was kicked out of its Chicago location and moved south in April 2006, said O’Gorman. He added that the channel is the perfect venue for junior rowing clubs and future intercollegiate races because it’s wide, always calm and nearly a straight shot. Barges work and communicate with the CRC team during practice to avoid problems and many, but not all, recreational boaters are courteous so as not to speed past the high-priced rowing shells, O’Gorman said.

“It is an ideal place compared with anywhere in the country,” noted O’Gorman. “The river is close to ideal for fall and spring races.

This will enhance the river. When you have big races, all of a sudden there is a lot different image.”

Even the water’s smell is tolerable these days.

“It doesn’t smell near as bad as downtown,” commented CRC member and University of Chicago student Marjie Bush. “At least it’s relatively clean.”

Both Peloquin and O’Gorman are working to bring universities with esteemed Division I rowing programs, such as the University of Wisconsin and Notre Dame, to compete in races this spring and fall. The Cal-Sag could be a draw for rowing competitions and spectators in the near future, said O’Gorman. Blue Island is also working with the Chicago Olympic Committee to make the Cal-Sag a potential practice venue if Chicago wins its bid for the 2016 Summer Games, Poulsen added.

With additional rowing and boating on the waterway, Blue Island is working on a marine policing unit, said O’Gorman. Members of the Blue Island fire and police departments will work with the Coast Guard to monitor the Cal-Sag, Poulsen explained. The marine unit could be up and running by November, she added.

Good for business

Further west of Blue Island, Palos Heights created Lake Katherine Nature Preserve between Harlem Avenue and Route 83, just off the Cal-Sag. The preserve has a walking trail, gardens, wildlife and educational nature programs. Roughly 50,000 visitors come to the scenic spot every year, which is a boost to the city, said Palos Heights Mayor Robert Straz.

A $65 million real estate development, which includes storefronts and residential buildings, has also been proposed for the northeast corner of Route 83 and Harlem Avenue on the south bank of the canal. The property was previously occupied by an car dealership and is a prime spot for businesses because of the view, said Straz.

The canal has boat launches in Alsip, north of 127th Street and Laramie Avenue, and Worth, west of Harlem Avenue off of 115th Street, which see a good deal of action during warmer months. Worth village Clerk Bonnie Price said she may sell between 60 and 100 launch fees on a Saturday in June. Worth also has a walking trail from its boat launch to Ridgeland Avenue that will eventually extend further west to the Palos Heights Metra train station.

“Our residents are waiting for that,” commented Price. “I walk the trail there and it’s very nice. You don’t even know you’re in Worth.”

A 26-mile trail along the Cal-Sag from Burnham near the Indiana border west to Lemont is being developed in conjunction with 14 communities including Blue Island, Crestwood, Worth, Palos Heights and Palos Park.

The municipalities are working to acquire grants to move the project along and it may be roughly 10 years before its completion, said Bill Poore, a member of the Friends of the Cal-Sag trail. The trail will increase exercise opportunities and help businesses, Poore said.

“I think it’s going to be wonderful. The water is appealing to people, it’s very underutilized and will help business, strengthen local economies, restore the history of the canal and enhance people’s lives,” Poore explained. “It will strengthen the Southland.”

Cal-Sag River?

Along with new developments along the Cal-Sag is the effort by Peloquin to change its image. He referred to it as a river, saying a name can bring negative connotations.

The Cal-Sag has improved its poor image, especially with nature blooming all around the water, Peloquin added.

O’Gorman said he has spotted beavers and fish, unlike the dead fish that were floating in abundance in the Chicago River where the CRC previously rowed.

“The Chicago River makes this look like the Shedd Aquarium,” said O’Gorman.

Improvements of the canal’s water quality over the last 30 years has attracted more wildlife to the area including more fish, turtles, frogs, beavers and muskrats, said MWRD biologist Sam Dennison.

Between 1974 and 1996 he has collected 30 species of fish from the Cal-Sag and was surprised to find smallmouth bass, a species typically found in cleaner bodies of water, Dennison explained. The fish are edible, but there are regulations and advisories on which species are safest for consumption.

Although the Cal-Sag is still not an ideal place to swim or good for a cup full to quench someone’s thirst, more people may soon be drawn to its developing appeal.

“It’ll help the whole region,” Poulsen said. “We’ve had a bad rap in the south suburbs and it’s very undeserving. It’s really pretty, very attractive.”

This is part of the May 24, 2007 online edition of The Reporter.

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