On September 6, 2007, Friends of the Chicago River was awarded the 2007 Chicago Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence in the Interpretation/Education category for our McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum. The award recipients are selected by the City of Chicago’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks and recognize outstanding projects that involve notable improvements to individual Chicago landmarks.

Envisioned by Daniel Burnham in the 1909 Plan of Chicago and designed by Edward H. Bennett, the Michigan Avenue Bridge and its four bridge towers were finished in 1920. They were designated Chicago Landmarks in 1991. An architectural gem in the Beaux-Arts style, the southwest tower is now home to Friends’ Bridgehouse Museum - and is currently the only one of Chicago’s many bridge towers open to the public. In designing museum exhibits, Friends integrated the exterior’s rich decorative detail against the pipes and ductwork of its functional use.

The Bridgehouse Museum uses each of the five floors of the bridgehouse to introduce visitors to the river’s history through time. The ground floor is also home to the City of Bridges exhibit, which houses the bridge’s massive gears and also highlights Chicago as the movable bridge capital of the world. The third and fifth floors reveal magnificent views of the Chicago River, effectively incorporating the river as a living exhibit. The museum is open during the summer and for special events throughout the year.