NEW PROPERTY MANAGER TO STEP UP SECURITY ALONG RIVERWALK
Rahm awards contract to boost security, add ‘ fun and creative’ concession options
The downtown Riverwalk has fast become one of Chicago’s most alluring public spaces, but it was also the scene of an alarming summer shooting during overnight hours when the attraction was supposed to be closed to the public.
Now, patrons are likely to notice a dramatic increase in security and “creative programming” as well.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has awarded a $ 10.7 million contract to Chicago- based MB Real Estate Services Inc. to provide “property and concession management” along the Riverwalk.
Michelle Woods, Riverwalk project manager for the city’s Department of Fleet and Facilities Management, said the company that has provided similar services at Millennium Park and, more recently, at Maggie Daley Park, was the low bidder but also the ideal choice.
The contract calls for MB Real Estate to provide security, janitorial services and fountain maintenance and also to advise the city on where to add concessions and bolster concession revenue needed to retire a $ 99 million federal construction loan used to complete the downtown Riverwalk.
“You’ll see improved facility operation as a result of the experience they have. You’ll see an improved presence of security, improved basic janitorial services. They have creative ideas on how to develop other sites along the Riverwalk that could help us generate additional revenues or just activity in a fun and creative way,” Woods said.
“They talked about people sitting at the Vietnam memorial and that those people should be able to purchase cups of coffee, beverages, and that we should think about putting more pop- up- type concessions that could be fun and active and creative that way.”
The shooting happened in midJune, at 2 a. m. on a Sunday. Two men, ages 28 and 30, were involved in an argument near Wacker and Dearborn when shots rang out.
The next day, Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said the Riverwalk shooting stemmed from “a dispute about a girl” and happened when the popular attraction was officially closed. The superintendent also said more needed to be done to make certain that an 11 p. m. curfew was being rigidly enforced.
Chicago Police “patrol that area religiously” between 6 p. m. and midnight but do only “random patrols” after midnight, he said.
“Those were not random incidents . . . they were targeted at groups of people that knew each other. . . . These weren’t street robberies or things of that nature,” the superintendent said.
Woods acknowledged the summer shooting was a wake- up call.
That’s why the MB Real Estate contract will have a heavy focus on security, with the flexibility to increase patrols during Lollapalooza, the Air & Water Show, Taste of Chicago and other busy spring and summer weekends when the city is inundated with tourists.
“They have contracts . . . for Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park. Those are very wonderful destinations in this city. The experience of seeing the security guards and just the professionalism and how they are visible and also kind of blend in” needs to be duplicated along the Riverwalk, Woods said.
“It improves peoples’ feelings of security when you see a real professional team and they’re dressed appropriately and have the uniforms — more like park rangers than security guards. We’re hoping to have a better security presence on the Riverwalk because this is a wonderful asset for our city. We want people to feel that it’s a safe place to come and visit, hang out and enjoy the river.”
Last year, the Emanuel administration abandoned plans to attract a development team capable of adding 100,000 square feet of retail space to the Riverwalk and generating enough revenue to pay off the federal loan and make the attraction self- sustaining.
Instead, the city granted oneyear extensions to a dozen existing concessionaires that together generated $ 8.5 million in gross revenues.
That will tide the city over until a selection committee awards longterm concession contracts — for anywhere from three to 10 years — for the entire Riverwalk, which stretches between Lake Shore Drive and the Lake Street bridge.
Those longer contracts are expected to be awarded next month.