The State of Illinois is having a budget crisis, and may close several parks, including the Hennepin.  I recently received this clarification from the Friends of the Hennepin Canal as to whether this meant just Visitors Center and immediate area or the entire canal parkway:
 
"Folks - it means the WHOLE canal.  14 of the 15 employees have been given pink slips, effective Nov 1.  That leaves Steve Moser, site superintendent, to maintain the whole length of the canal and the feeder.  This is an impossible task for one person.  Supposedly NO TRESPASSING signs will be posted and there will be a fine for anyone caught on the canal (or any of the other 10 state parks that are also being affected by this decision) during the period it is closed.  That means fishermen can't fish, bikers can't bike, hikers can't hike, equestrians can't ride, and so on."
 
Despite Illinois being cold enough to enjoy an ice skating marathon skate, the park may be closed.  The US equivalent of $650mm will be spent on the canals in the Dutch province of Friesland (see the NY Times link regarding the Elfstedentocht on my links page).   In the US, large somes are now spent on the Erie Canal recreational programs (boating, biking, kayaking) and associated maintenance.   Illinois will have 1 guy. 

So if you live in Illinois, write or contact your legislature to support restoring the funds. 

Dec 2008 UPDATE:  4 of the 11 parks threatened with closure, including the Hennepin, had their funding restored in late November.  See subsequent blog posts. 

 


Comments

Susan

09/09/2008 10:36:21

Thank you for sharing this information. I work with boys scouts and we have used the I & M canal path for doing the Bicycling merit badge.
I wish the state of Illinois would cleanup the misuse of general funds & mismanaged depts. Why don't they cut some of the jobs in state offices where people skate around their responsibilities and get a paycheck for doing little or nothing. State employees enjoy alot of nice free benefits that others pay dearly out of their own pockets.
Closing our state parks would be a sad state of affairs.

 

Peter Schmidtke

12/14/2008 20:33:29

Hey Jim,

I was saddened to hear about the canal SP closing via your website. I biked it last year, and at the time, I thought it would be great to skate it in the winter if the canal froze over before it snowed.

I was up in Madison (WI) this weekend and skated around and around a 3 mile frozen strech of black ice on Lake Monona. So as soon as I got back to Chicago, I started googling canal skating in Illinois.

I don't have the clip-on nordic skates that would be good for portaging the bridges over the Hennepin (I do have a pair of Saloman skate ski boots, but no blades, and for skating, I just have non clap-skate speedskates), but I'd still like to try skating on the canal if we get some good weather. It looks like it's going to get cold again this week- If the canal thawed to open water again, it should freeze smooth.

Have you skated at all on the I & M canal?

Are you in Chicago, or closer to the quad cities? Lake/canal skating isn't too popular here, so I'd be interested in hearing about where other people are skating.

--Peter

 



Leave a Reply