July 03, 2025
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Kankakee River mussels captured, moved

Can East Riverwalk project begin now?

By Lee Provost
Beth Hollinden, a malacologist with GZA GeoEnvironmental, observes a river mussel at the site of Kankakee's East Riverwalk in the Kankakee River on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, where the search for the endangered mussels is underway ahead of the start of construction.

Beth Hollinden, a malacologist with GZA GeoEnvironmental, observes a river mussel at the site of Kankakee's East Riverwalk in the Kankakee River on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, where the search for the endangered mussels took place ahead of the start of riverwalk construction. Kankakee officials hope construction will soon begin. (Tiffany Blanchette)

KANKAKEE – The search-collect-and-relocate mission for the endangered mussels within a 350-or-so-foot stretch of the Kankakee River has been completed.

And while a limited number of city officials are aware of the numbers collected, a contest to guess the number of mussels collected will be held at this weekend’s Kankakee Farmers’ Market.

Bill Yohnka, who has spearheaded the private fundraising effort for the $5 million East Riverwalk project, said among the mussels found by the search team headed by GZA GeoEnvironmental, of Norwood, Maine, were indeed endangered mussels.

The team also found species of mussels not on the endangered list, Yohnka said.

The work to find the river mussels and relocate them began on June 24 and concluded Monday. GZA crews worked through the weekend to complete their work.

The hope had been with this task in the rearview mirror, the project to construct the East Riverwalk, which will be spearheaded by Kankakee’s PSI, Inc., could immediately begin.

There is still one obstacle in the way, and the state is not budging on it.

This issue deals with Red River Horsefish, and this time period is part of its spawning season.

The spawning season, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, does not conclude until the end of July, and that time frame remains in effect.

This means the riverwalk construction cannot begin until Aug. 1.

Riverwalk development crews, already significantly delayed, would have liked to begin ASAP to take advantage of the summer months.

“The guys from PSI are so ready to go,” Yohnka said. “They want to work.”

Mayor Chris Curtis said on Tuesday that IDNR will not move on the timeline.

“Our answer was no,” Curtis said. “It’s a little frustrating, but it is what it is. We made a plea to DNR. We thought we had cleared our last hurdle. We will start in a month from now.”

Regarding the “guess the number of endangered mussels” contest, Yohnka offered one hint. He set the range of relocated mussels between five and 500.

Those interested in offering a guess need to register a guess beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday at the farmers’ market. The exact number will be revealed at 11:45 a.m.

The person or persons who have the correct guess or are closest to the correct number will receive a prize. Yohnka was not yet sure what the prize would be.

The East Riverwalk is the first major component of the planned four-mile stretch of the Kankakee Riverwalk, which stretches along the Kankakee River from the Frank Lloyd Wright museum property at South Harrison Avenue northwest to the Riverside Medical Center site.