NAVY PIER — The Navy Pier Marina will open subsequent month, permitting public boaters to lastly dock at considered one of Chicago’s largest vacationer points of interest.
The marina formally opens June 15 on the north facet of the pier with the aptitude to dock boats as much as 183 toes in size, in accordance with a press launch.
Navy Pier Marina will supply boaters short-term and prolonged keep choices they’ll e book by way of an internet reservation system, together with lunch and dinner hourly tie-ups, in a single day mooring and long-term docking. The marina can have energy and water hookups, Wi-Fi entry and boat sewage removing providers, with concierge-style help obtainable on-site, in accordance with the discharge.
A two-story facilities constructing, constructed from repurposed transport containers, will home the marina workplace, boater’s lounge, a ship’s retailer, restrooms and showers. The constructing will even have on-site laundry, a motorbike restore station and a pet reduction space, in accordance with the discharge.
Developer Randy Podolsky got here up with the thought for the marina in 2016. After initially being accredited by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the undertaking was blocked underneath former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration over fears it might pose a safety threat to the close by Jardine Water Purification Plant.
Podolsky sued town, arguing officers overstepped their authority in halting the undertaking. The stalemate resulted in 2023 underneath Mayor Brandon Johnson, who lifted town’s opposition as soon as he took workplace, permitting the privately funded marina to maneuver ahead, in accordance with WGN.
“We persevered and at the moment are capable of convey long-awaited leisure boater entry to Navy Pier,” Podolsky mentioned in a press release. “Being a Chicago native and a passionate boater since 1983, having envisioned this undertaking a decade in the past, I couldn’t be extra pleased with everybody who took half — and believed in — making this dream come true.”
The Navy Pier Marina will supply restricted availability to seasonal business vessels, together with fishing, crusing and social charters, in addition to boat golf equipment, cruises and different boat-share operations, in accordance with the press launch.
The marina is slated to host the inaugural Chicago Worldwide Boat Present Aug. 21-24, bringing luxurious boats and yachts to Lake Michigan.
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