(Above) An illustration released by the mayor’s office on Wednesday that shows what a riverfront lighting contest might produce. With Marina City at right, this image imagines the view looking west from about Wabash Avenue. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

January 23, 2014 – The city will launch an international contest to get ideas for elaborate lighting of the Chicago River at night.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel made the announcement on Wednesday during a speech on tourism at the Museum of Science and Industry.

The competition will seek entries from artists, architects, designers, planners, and engineers. If it works out, the project will expand to other parts of the city – buildings, roads, and open spaces.

“It will make nighttime in Chicago an experience unto itself,” said Emanuel. “It will make us North America’s ‘City of Lights.’ People will come from far and wide to see what we’ve done.”

(Below) Looking back from a new Riverwalk across from Merchandise Mart.

The mayor also announced a citywide celebration of the Chinese New Year, which falls on January 31. For two weeks, the year of the horse will be celebrated in downtown Chicago with lighting displays on State Street and at Millennium Park. Emanuel wants it to someday be the largest celebration of the Chinese New Year in North America.

Demolition of old Riverwalk starts

The next phase of Riverwalk construction started on January 17. An excavator is seen above, just west of Clark Street, scooping loose concrete from the base of a Wacker Drive support, for deposit on the pile behind it.

Walsh Construction is building the Riverwalk from State to LaSalle Streets. Work will continue until Spring 2015.

In his speech on Wednesday, Emanuel called the Riverwalk “the spine that connects residents and tourists to different neighborhoods and throughout the central part of our city.”

 Related story: Riverwalk construction will start soon, be worth the stress, says alderman