Copyright Chicago Tribune
Downtown St. Charles may one day get a floating park on the Fox River, modeled after a similar project in Chicago. The idea is being proposed by the River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles, a nonprofit that supports projects that improve the city’s downtown riverfront environment. The group also hosts an annual river cleanup day and recently led a mass bulb-planting effort in the area. The foundation’s proposal, presented to the St. Charles City Council Government Services Committee on Monday, is essentially a “destination floating garden” on the Fox River, according to the foundation’s director John Rabchuk. The proposed eco-park made up of planting areas and walkways is based on a similar restoration project in downtown Chicago. Called the Wild Mile, the Chicago project, which is found on the North Branch of the Chicago River, uses floating gardens to mimic a natural wetland habitat, like the ones that might have been found in the city before it was developed. The project in St. Charles would be smaller, Rabchuk said at Monday’s meeting, but would be similarly made up of walkways and planting areas that sit atop the river. Many of the details were still being determined at Monday’s meeting. Rabchuk’s presentation notes three possible locations on the river in St. Charles, and the foundation hasn’t done engineering for the project yet. And, given the stage the project is in, the construction and maintenance costs are unknown — though Rabchuk gave a rough estimate of half a million dollars to build it. The foundation’s plan is for it to be maintained by volunteers and paid for via grants and donations. “River Corridor has proven that we have a large base of volunteers that would … love to be involved in this,” Rabchuk said on Monday. According to Rabchuk, the project could help the river environmentally by improving water quality and wildlife habitats. The former is beneficial, he explained, because the plants absorb excess nutrients from the river, and their roots provide a habitat for fish. As for creating wildlife habitats, Rabchuk explained that using native plants helps attract hummingbirds and butterflies to the area. It would also be able to be used by individuals hoping to walk along the river, and could be an educational tool for St. Charles School District 303, Rabchuk noted. “These things become a real destination,” Rabchuk said at the meeting, “in addition to being (an) ecological advantage.” The group was also slated to present the proposal to the St. Charles Park District board on Tuesday. Rabchuk said its intention in presenting the idea to both government bodies was to see if they were interested in the project before attempting to move forward on it. Rabchuk said that when looking for donations, the foundation is often asked if the city is behind a project. City officials asked questions about the project and its logistics, but were largely supportive of the idea as it was presented on Monday. There was some discussion of the location, but Rabchuk noted that the structure could be deconstructed and reconstructed. “Over a week or so, we could take it all apart and move it to one of the other locations,” he said at the meeting. One source of uncertainty in the plans is the possible removal of dams on the Fox River, which has long been debated in the area, including in St. Charles. It has also not yet been determined who would oversee the floating park once it has been built, Rabchuk noted. However, at Monday’s meeting, during which city officials expressed enthusiasm about the idea, City Administrator Heather McGuire suggested that, provided the City Council supported the idea, she could work with the River Corridor Foundation to draft the documentation it needed to demonstrate the city’s support for the project, which would be used as the foundation seeks donations for the project. From here, the River Corridor Foundation plans to make a design, and then go to an engineering firm to get a sense of the costs, updating the city throughout the process, Rabchuk said. mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
