Happy Hour Speaker Series - Preserving and Reactivating Chicago's Bridgehouses for Community

Tags: Attend, McCormick Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum, and River education

Preserving and Reactivating Chicago's Bridgehouses for Community

Thursday, July 23

5:15 – 6:15 p.m. 

McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum, 99 Chicago Riverwalk

Free and open to the public

 

Speakers:

  • Mejay Gula, Tender House Project founder

  • Ward Miller, Preservation Chicago Executive Director

Join us to celebrate 20 years of the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum all season long. Enjoy local beverages out on our riverfront plaza while you learn from local experts who bring to life key aspects of the Chicago-Calumet River system, wildlife, history, public policy, and community engagement throughout the summer.

This event is free and open to the public, and donations to Friends of the Chicago River are encouraged to support the Bridgehouse Museum's programming.

Chicago's historic bridges and their tender houses are among the city's most recognizable civic landmarks, standing as enduring symbols of engineering innovation and the river that shaped Chicago's growth. Yet many of our bridgehouses remain vacant and underutilized, disconnected from the communities that surround them.

Join Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller and Tender House Project founder Mejay Gula for a conversation about preserving and reimagining these remarkable bridge operator buildings for future generations. It’s hosted by the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum, a prime example of how these buildings can be repurposed for the public good.

Located in the southwest bridgehouse of the historic DuSable Bridge on Michigan Avenue, the Bridgehouse Museum tells the story of how the Chicago-Calumet River system changed as people's use of it changed. The five-story museum showcases a river teeming with wildlife due in large part to hard fought water-quality victories and significant restoration efforts.

Sponsors help Friends offer free programs like this and support the Bridgehouse Museum in connecting people with the history and renaissance of the Chicago-Calumet River system inside this historic landmark Bridgehouse. 

Thank you to our sponsors Goose Island Beer Co. and the Fletcher Family for making this special series possible. 

 

Full series details:

  • June 4: Riverfronts of this Century, presented by The Otter Society – Adam Flickinger, Friends of the Chicago River & Richard Wilson, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
     
  • June 25: Native and Invasive Crayfish of Chicago – Reuben Keller, PhD, Loyola University Chicago
     
  • July 9: Water Impacts of Data Centers - Moderated by Siri Chilukuri, freelance journalist at Chicago Reader, and including Nora Beck, CMAP; Rachel Havrelock, UIC Freshwater Lab; A. Anne Holcomb, Founder and Co-Chair of ETHOS; Edith Makra, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; and Ellicia Sanchez, The Nature Conservancy
     

  • July 23: Mejay Gula, Tender House Project founder & Ward Miller, Preservation Chicago Executive Director

  • July 30: Plastic Pollution and Solutions in our Rivers – Tim Hoellien, PhD, Loyola University of Chicago & Emily Kowalski, Associate Director, Environment Illinois
     
  • August 20: Chicago-Calumet River Trivia Night
     
  • September 3: Sanitary & Ship Canal Project – Adam Flickinger & Amy Heldman, Friends of the Chicago River