What’s canal’s future course?

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Recreational destinations like Channahon Parkway State Park at Channahon are plentiful along the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal. The Canal Corridor Association has begun the process of asking what other uses, from historical to educational to economy-stimulating, the public would like to see promoted in communities along the canal. (Herald file photo)

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CHANNAHON – Judy Bredeweg and Gayle Crompton, current and former board members of the Will County Historical Society, would like to see more information available on the history of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

“I just have a love of history,” Bredeweg said. “There’s a lot of things you could do a master’s thesis on, just on the canal.”

They came to the Four Rivers Education Center in Channahon Thursday night to share their ideas. It was the fourth in a series of public forums set up by the Canal Corridor Association.

The Canal Corridor Association is working in cooperation with the National Heritage Corridor and National Park Service to coordinate the development of a comprehensive management plan for the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal.

About 30 people attended the forum Thursday, the fourth in a series that met in Channahon, La Salle, Lemont and Morris.

“Most people think of Chicago as a railroad town, but it was a canal town first,” Ana Koval, president and CEO of the Canal Corridor Association told participants. “Tonight, we’re starting here, getting info from you on how you see the corridor.”

The Illinois and Michigan canal is a 98-mile canal that opened in 1848. Today, towns along the canal have created walking and bike paths, museums and nature centers, but there is more to be done.

“We need to talk about what our vision is for that whole heritage area,” Dennis Bieschke, a CCA board member, said.

That discussion involved a lot of different uses and priorities. Some in attendance would like to see the canal evolve into a history walk, others wanted to see an educational and environmentally-friendly place people could go to learn and relax. Still others wanted the canal to remain a recreational destination, a place to have fun.

Lois Huffman, who lives in Joliet, wants the corridor to remain pretty.

“I spend a lot of time out there and it’s so enjoyable,” she said.

She even took a class in Morris some time ago when they were seeking docents for the corridor.

This is just the beginning of what will be a number of community meetings as the CCA fleshes out a vision, mission statement and guiding principals to make the communities’ and organization’s goals become reality.

The drive for such goals is due to available funding to realize them. Back in 2006, the Senate passed a bill giving control of the canal to a private, non-profit organization. The government then promised to provide the CCA with $10 million in funding over the next 15 years to promote job creation and tourism.

Up to $1 million can be used a year and the funds have to be matched dollar-for-dollar with nonfederal funds.

For more information, or to participate in the next forum, which will likely be in January 2010, visit  www.canalcor.org or call (815) 223-1851.

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