EMBED >More News Videos Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks about Chicago Riverwalk East transformation, during the opening ceremony Monday. CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel celebrated the opening of the newly transformed Chicago Riverwalk East Monday.The block between Michigan Avenue to Lake Shore Drive now features new landscaping, additional seating and new public art.With the completion of this $12 million investment, every block of this award-winning 1.25-mile promenade and recreational amenity has been modernized or developed for the first time.Starting in June, vendors from throughout Chicago will set up shop at the Community Marketplace between Michigan and Wabash avenues.Nine new vendors will be featured in the marketplace, including Justice of the Pies, Beat Kitchen and Gordo's Homemade Ice Cream.Scheduled for completion in fall of 2020, weather station comprises an array of seven slender, stainless steel towers of varying heights - each culminating in a wind vane and anemometer - collectively rising from the river bank to a height of 117 feet.Monday's event kicks off a week of celebrations, including a new Art on theMART program, a pyrotechnic display, lantern procession, public programming, vendor specials and more.<doc-sep>The Chicago Riverwalk is officially open for the summer season—all 1.25 miles leading to the lakefront. Last summer, the mayor began improvements on Riverwalk East, between Michigan Avenue and Lakeshore Drive, and now that section is open. Before the work began, the eastern section was aged and essentially just a sidewalk. Now, there are areas for kids to play, three public bathrooms, 150 new trees, 94 new streetlights, and lots of places to sit. The design team was led by Mueller and Mueller and Site Design Group worked on the landscape architecture. The $12 million Riverwalk transformation first began in 2011 when the city wanted to create a new pedestrian path. Architecture firms Sasaki Associates, Ross Barney Architects, Benesch and Jacobs Ryan Landscape Architects worked to completely transform the riverside blocks between Lake and State street. In 2016, the award-winning Riverwalk fully opened and since then it’s grown. Vendors like City Winery and Tiny Tapp have come in, the Park District started a kids fishing program, and digital projects turned the Mart into public art. The latest improvements will bring in a massive art installation by Chicago-based artist Iñigo Manglano Ovalle and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill engineer Bill Baker. A city committee selected Weather Station, a 117-foot group of seven stainless steel poles topped with spinning wind vanes and anemometers. Chicagoans will be able to view the sculpture when it’s completed in fall 2020. If you’re curious what it might actually look like, the artist has a similar project from 2013 in Tongva Park in Los Angeles. In addition, there will be five colorful panels created by artist Ebony Patterson that will sit above the Chicago First Lady ticket booths. She’s known for large-scale, textured murals created out of lace, glitter, and beads. New art on the west end includes an installation by sculptor Robert Burnier which features geometric structures of steel, nylon mesh, and rope. Arriving soon on June 1st, the newest end of the Riverwalk will have a marketplace between Michigan and Wabash avenues. There will be nine new vendors, all of which are local. New businesses include: Lakeview’s Beat Kitchen which will serve tacos, pizzas, salads, and vegan options Lincoln Park’s wildly popular Batter and Berries breakfast spot Nepalese cafe Chiya Chia, which started in Logan Square Gordo’s Homemade Ice Cream which runs shops in South Loop and Edgewater Justice of the Pies, a vendor at Chicago’s city farmers markets, and will serve quiches and pies Luxury Cake, based in Pilsen, will have an outpost for its desserts West Town’s Neighborly will sell art and wares from local crafters Twisted Eggroll, a catering service based in West Town Shop Small will be a place for a rotating series of featured artists All week long the city will be celebrating the Riverwalk’s opening season and latest improvements. There are free walking tours, fireworks, and new digital projections for Art on the Mart.<doc-sep>
DOWNTOWN — The Riverwalk’s latest expansion is finished, and with it is coming a Community Marketplace. The marketplace, which will open in June, features nine vendors serving food like pies, ice cream, pizza and tacos, as well as vendors offering locally crafted goods. They’ll be set up in kiosks on the riverwalk between Michigan and Wabash avenues, according to a Mayor’s Office news release. Credit: City of Chicago A rendering of the new Community Marketplace on the Riverwalk, between Michigan and Wabash. Here’s the marketplace’s lineup: Beat Kitchen will serve food and drinks, including tacos, pizzas and salads. It will have vegan options. Batter and Berries will have soul food. Chiya Chia will feature a menu of chias and curry pies. Gordo’s Homemade Ice Cream will have ice cream bars. Justice of the Pies will serve quiches and pies. Luxury Cake will offer desserts. Neighborly will have goods from local artists. Shop Small Chicago will also have goods from Chicago artists. Twisted Eggroll will serve new twists on eggrolls. Credit: Justice of the Pies/Facebook Justice of the Pies will be one of nine vendors selling food and goods at the Riverwalk’s new Community Marketplace this summer. The marketplace will be one of the latest additions to the 1.25-mile Riverwalk, which celebrated the completion of $12 million in renovations to its east branch this weekend. An opening celebration continued Monday. Riverwalk East goes between Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Drive. The renovated Riverwalk East now features 10,000 square feet of “play” space with three public bathrooms, 150 new trees, new lights and more seating, according to the Mayor’s Office. The eastern portion of the Riverwalk will also feature a new piece of art: Weather Station, a series of stainless steel towers with different heights that are topped with wind vanes and anemometers. The art piece is expected to be finished in fall 2020. A submarine memorial along Riverwalk East will be dedicated on Saturday, as well.