July 28--In the 1880s, the grandfather of St. Charles resident Tom Anderson used to trek onto the frozen Fox River with a handsaw and cut out blocks of ice, carrying each to a nearby ice house and storing it to refrigerate ice cream and milk.
He used the same technique to keep ice cream cool when he opened a family ice cream shop, Colonial Cafe, 20 years later.
In the 1950s, when Anderson was a child, he remembers the river being home to lively boat houses offering a splash of color to the summery landscape.
With each generation, the Fox River has transformed to serve a new purpose. And for Anderson, 2015 shouldn't be any different.
"Planning a big project for the river is exciting," he said. "There's a rich history of the river in St. Charles. It's had so many uses. It's ready for what's next."
Residents, park board and city council members all seemed ready to embrace a new concept for the Fox River during a public presentation last week by Naperville-based Hitchcock Group, which has been consulting the St. Charles Active River Task Force on how to carry through their vision of creating an enhanced, recreational riverwalk.
The riverwalk would consist of a beautified, half-mile sidewalk leading to a paddling course for kayaks, rafts and canoes near Main Street. The existing dam would be modified, replaced by small natural dams made of rock for wildlife migration. The existing bike trails would be extended on both sides of the river, and kids could enjoy running through sprinklers in a water playground.
"Riverwalks themselves are an attraction, it's not just a chunk of sidewalk," said Richard Hitchcock, the project's lead consultant. "There are sculptures and art. it's like going to a museum, from room to room, attracted by everything you see."
He emphasized that, while there was nothing wrong with St. Charles smaller, existing riverwalk, it wasn't attracting people from outside the city. An enhanced riverwalk, he said, could turn St. Charles into a traveler's destination with accessible fishing and a "Kodak moment" pedestrian bridge even bringing in condominium, hotel or restaurant developers.
The primary concern expressed by city and park board members was the project's feasibility, including the complexity of the dam modification to create a usable paddling course. Various state and federal permits would be required, as well as engineering data to support the modification's predicted success. Without those, officials agreed they couldn't be 100 percent on board with the dam modification, which would be both time-consuming and expensive.
Hitchcock suggested city and park board members pave the way for smaller projects in the meantime, such as the fishing ponds, water playgrounds and limestone benches. If the smaller components are constructed alongside the dam modification, Hitchcock estimated the riverwalk could be completed within 10 years.
St. Charles residents Miles Lowry and Sharon Radzienta said they moved from the Naperville and Wheaton areas because of the Fox River's charm. As a member of RowAmerica, Radzienta said she was excited about the project, particularly since it would allow for easy spectating for rowing events.
Lowry agreed, and added that he was most drawn by the dam modification.
"That gets rid of the concrete walls and naturalizes the river," he said. "That's how the river's meant to be."
While resident Sarah Harbaugh said she was interested in the project, she said there were several aspects -- including how it would affect motor boaters -- that needed to be evaluated. She also inquired whether the completed riverwalk would draw in too many people.
"What's going to happen to our small community?" she asked. "Is it going to be like RiverFest or the Scarecrow Festival here all summer long? Is that something we want?"
meltagouri@tribune.com
