For a century, the river port at Halsted moved coal, grain and timber. Today its cranes are mostly idle, and its harbour master has a new problem: how to keep a working waterfront useful when the work is changing.
A network of river ports is rehearsing for a decade of lower freight volumes, sharing plans for converting warehouses to workshops, moving part of the quay to leisure use and keeping enough deep-water berths to remain a working harbour.
A port that stops being a port becomes a view. A port that remembers it is a place of work can be a view as well.
The test, planners say, is whether the new uses pay for the old infrastructure. Several ports are trialling mixed leases that tie a developer’s rights to a commitment to keep part of the quay operational. The first results are due next year.
