The Chicago Housing Authority recently approved a $3.4 million loan for the redevelopment of Lathrop Homes, marking a turning point for this project which has been a decade in the works. The preliminary design for the site includes 6 acres of green, community space, multiple public walkways along the river, and a building layout focused on increasing connectivity to the surrounding community. Needless to say, Friends of the Chicago River is very much looking forward to the benefits the redevelopment of this historic community will bring to the North Branch of the Chicago River.

The Michigan Avenue bridge's 94th birthday was a great excuse for a party at Friends' McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum yesterday when dozens of onlookers sang "Happy Birthday" after enjoying with amazement the giant gears raising the bridge for sailboats headed to the lake.

Great progress is being made on the construction of phase 2 of the Chicago Riverwalk which should be complete by the end of 2014. The riverwalk will provide a wonderful array of activities ranging from dining to boating to just hanging out to enjoy the pagentry of the Chicago River.

In good news for the Chicago River system, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Watershed Management Ordinance for Cook County went into effect May 1, 2014. The Ordinance, or WMO, governs how stormwater is managed as new development takes place in Cook County.