Voting open until Friday afternoon for new name for Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
The 28-mile Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was the product of a monumental feat of engineering that reversed the flow of the Chicago River, but no one can deny it is saddled with a rather unpleasant name.
A coalition of nonprofits, government bodies, elected officials, businesses, and residents has decided it's time for a name change for the canal — and the public can vote on the name through Friday afternoon.
The Bold Past/Bright Future Campaign emphasizes that the word "sanitary" no longer suits the waterway. The group wants to rechristen the canal with a name that "reflects the 21st century vision for a shared resource that can support commerce at the same time that it plays a key role in community and environmental health."
Through 5 p.m. Friday, the public can vote for one of the following names — which were developed after months of brainstorming by a naming committee. The committee included Native American tribal representatives, historians, conservationists, elected officials and government leaders, leaders of business and industry, academics, and everyday residents.
- Chicago-Lockport Canal
- Chicago Portage Canal
- Chicago Shipping Canal
- Illinois Prairie Canal
- Southwest Canal
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) unveiled the names last week.
On Jan. 2, 1900, the Sanitary District of Chicago — a predecessor to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District — completed the massive undertaking of reversing the flow of the Chicago River by digging the 28-mile canal.
Before the reversal, human and industrial waste would flow from the river right into Lake Michigan — the source of Chicago's drinking water, then as now. The oft-repeated story that 90,000 people died of cholera and typhoid fever after a storm in Chicago sent sewage into the lake in 1885 has been debunked, but nevertheless, the flow of disgusting material from the river into the lake was a monumental public health hazard.
The public has until 5 p.m. to vote on a name on the Bold Past/Bright Future website.