(Above) A tour on Tuesday of the Chicago Riverwalk for people at least thinking about submitting bids to operate a business there. The man at left in the orange hat is Riverwalk construction manager Oswaldo Chaves. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

February 12, 2015 – About 20 prospective concessionaires used their imaginations on Tuesday during a tour of the Riverwalk, still weeks away from opening. Led by Chicago Department of Transportation, the first public tour showed business owners and managers the new interior arcade spaces between Clark Street and State Street and existing spaces east of State Street.

Many from the group attended a pre-bid conference on February 5 with the city’s Department of Fleet and Facility Management. They were scheduled to visit the Riverwalk after the conference but the tour was rescheduled due to cold weather.

The group included representatives of Goose Island Brewery, Chicago Electric Boat Company, Urban Kayaks, and a bicycle tour business.

(Left) Photo by CDOT from inside an arcade space west of Dearborn Street.

The spaces are only about ten feet deep, which would make a restaurant business challenging. Other issues, noted by people who took the tour, include diesel fumes from boats docked too close and restrooms that are too far away.

The spaces offer a “great new perspective of the river,” says Dan Reynolds, general manager of Dick’s Last Resort, “and it only can help to get the river cleaner with hopefully so many people seeing it up close.”

The city is looking for food and beverage, recreational, cultural, and educational concessions and it is planning on operators being in business this year. Prospective concessionaires have until March 9 to submit their bids. Three blocks of the Riverwalk, from State Street west to LaSalle Street, will open to the public in May.