Chicago is eyeing a dramatic makeover for roughly 10,000 acres along the Calumet River, rolling out a draft land use map that puts wetlands, shoreline access and cleaner water high on the wish list. On paper, it carves out parks and marsh restoration inside a working industrial corridor. On the ground, residents and environmental groups say it still clings too hard to smokestacks and warehouses.
What’s in the draft map
The city’s Department of Planning and Development unveiled a draft Calumet Area Land Use Plan last summer that splits the study area into five basic buckets: open space and recreation, neighborhood mixed use, commercial and light industrial, moderate industrial, and heavy industrial. Officials say the next phase will drill into design guidelines and public input ahead of an implementation push targeted for summer 2026, as reported by Block Club Chicago.
Community groups want more than talk
Neighborhood coalitions that helped kick off the planning effort argue the draft falls short of a true turn away from heavy industry and toward parks and public waterfront. “We had very high hopes with this process and the outcome of what the plan would be,” Yessenia Balcazar told Block Club Chicago. Her coalition, Calumet Connect, is preparing a formal complaint targeting what they see as a plan that still sacrifices too much riverfront to industry.
Superfunds will shape what parcels can change
Complicating everything is the fact that parts of the Calumet sit inside at least three federal Superfund sites, which sharply limits what can be reused anytime soon. The long-abandoned Acme Steel coke plant was added to the National Priorities List in March 2024, and the Schroud property made the list in 2019, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The larger Lake Calumet Cluster has been on the federal list since 2010, a status highlighted in coverage of the region’s long cleanup slog. EPA, EPA, and reporting from ENR spell out the contamination and the formal Superfund designations.
Cleanup timelines will determine what’s possible
Federal remediation tends to move at a crawl, and community advocates say those timelines will decide which parcels can realistically turn into parks or marshes and which stay fenced off. Reporting that pulls together updates from agency spokespeople and local organizers shows remedial investigations and other early steps are still underway at multiple Calumet sites, with advocates warning it could be years before large-scale restoration is even on the table. Circle of Blue detailed those slow-moving timelines and the local push for faster cleanup.
Port plans complicate conservation
The Illinois International Port District controls most of Lake Calumet and is operating off its own 2022 master plan for about 1,800 acres that leans heavily into freight and terminal operations. Regional planners have warned that focus will tighten the squeeze on how much land can shift to open space. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning advised on the Port master plan, and local partners are already rolling out green infrastructure along the shoreline to cut stormwater and pollutant runoff. For more on those efforts, see the IIPD master plan FAQ from CMAP and Delta Institute’s stormwater wetlands work.
A small pilot for river access
Even with all the industrial baggage, advocates have managed to nudge a few pilot projects forward to reclaim slivers of waterfront. One early effort along the western bank between 96th and 100th streets, known as the 100th Street Project, is set to give residents temporary access under a two-year lease from People’s Gas. Local organizers say that limited window would still mark the first time many neighborhood residents could legally get close to the Calumet River. The project and its timeline were laid out by Circle of Blue.
What comes next
From here, the Calumet plan moves into design-guideline drafting and another round of public feedback. The Department of Planning has flagged 2026 as its implementation window and says it will have to balance community input with Superfund cleanup schedules and the Port District’s freight priorities. Residents and other stakeholders will be tracking a run of public events and advocacy forums this winter and spring, including Friends of the Chicago River’s Chicago-Calumet River Summit on Jan. 30, which promises fresh briefings and expert panels. Friends of the Chicago River has full event details.
