Coalition Pitching Canal Name Change

A coalition of community groups and elected officials led by Friends of the Chicago River proposes renaming the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which forms the north border of the McKinley Park neighborhood.

“Removing the stigmatizing term ‘Sanitary’ from its title” is a primary reason to rename the waterway, the coalition states on its website at boldpastbrightfuture.org.

The waterway, a man-made 28-mile-long channel opened in 1900 as part of the reversing of the flow of the Chicago River, was also a key shipping access point that connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. It starts at South Ashland Avenue and runs southwest to join the Des Plaines River at Lockport, Illinois.

Improved Water Quality

Although shipping remains important for the channel, use has turned to parks, recreation and ecology, especially as water quality has dramatically improved, the coalition said.

In order for a name change to occur, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names must approve a “widely supported application,” which will then be officially considered and informed by community feedback and recommendations from government and land management agencies.

National Register of Historic Places

A naming committee has so far conducted two meetings to begin the process of making a name change, and considering what a new name might be.

Committee meeting notes reveal initial goals and planning, and consideration of how the canal is on the National Register of Historic Places. This “affects planning, bridge and trail development,” and requires three options to be submitted to the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, which then picks the winner.

Limited Info From McKinley Park

Committee notes outline discussion of best practices for naming bodies of water like the canal, and results from initial outreach and surveys. It has received “limited information from indigenous communities, McKinley Park, Pilsen so far.”

In conjunction with the 125th anniversary of the canal’s opening, an event will be held at the end of October 2025 “where will use the findings from the Naming Committee’s work to celebrate, put names for public vote and promote a new vision for the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal,” the coalition stated.

Participants in naming committee meetings include:

• Jerry Adelman, formerly of Openlands
• Jason Berry, Village of Lemont
• Elizabeth Blasius (facilitator), Preservation Futures LLC
• Marcella Corona (facilitator), MK Corona
• Brendan Daily, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
• Amber Delgado, Landmarks Illinois
• Hilary Denk,  District Director for U.S. House of Representive Congressman Bill Foster of the Illinois 11th District
• Faryal Faizan, Friends of the Chicago River
• Adam Flickinger, Friends of the Chicago River
• Margaret Frisbie, Friends of the Chicago River
• Raquel Garcia-Alvarez, Forest Preserves of Cook County
• Mark Hauser, Friends of the Chicago River
• Rachel Havelock, The Freshwater Lab at University of Illinois Chicago
• Daniel Hebreard, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
• Amy Heldman, Friends of the Chicago River
• Ron Henderson, Illinois Institute of Technology
• Ana Koval, President, Canal Corridor Association, I&M Canal National Heritage Area
• Nancy Meza, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO)
• Sergio Rodriguez, President, Village of Summit
• Andrew Schneider, Chicago Park District
• Delilah Salgado, artist in residence at the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization
• Jim Sibley, Ozinga
• Jonathan Solomon (facilitator), Preservation Futures LLC
• Edith Tovar, LVEJO