(Left) Photo by CDOT on Friday from inside an arcade space west of Dearborn Street. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

February 7, 2015 – After cleaning up from a snowstorm earlier in the week, builders of the Chicago Riverwalk continue making the arcade spaces under Wacker Drive more habitable.

Most of the floors are finished, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. What is left is stretching electrical wire, installing light fixtures – along with plumbing, mechanical systems such as heating and air conditioning, and glass on the front windows.

In those spaces, along what designers call “rooms,” concession operators will set up shop. Prospective shopkeepers met with the city’s Department of Fleet and Facility Management on February 5. A visit to the Riverwalk, rescheduled due to cold weather, will happen on February 10.

(Above) Steps leading up to an arcade space, photographed by CDOT on January 28.

The city is looking for “food and beverage, recreational, cultural, and educational operators of concessions with the qualifications and expertise necessary to develop, promote, and operate for the 2015 season.”

The commercial spaces are located on Marina Plaza between State and Dearborn Streets and The Cove between Dearborn and Clark Streets. Prospective concessionaires have until March 9 to submit their bids.

(Above) Forms awaiting concrete at the Riverwalk room called River Theater west of Clark Street.

Over at River Theater, between Clark and LaSalle Streets, CDOT expects to have the first concrete in place in the next week and that will make up the slope from Wacker Drive down to the Chicago River. For now, work continues on the wooden forms, into which concrete will be poured, for the ramps, stairs, and walls.

Other chores left to do include the ceramic tile, drywall, and insulated ceilings of the restrooms.