
Stickney Water Reclamation Plant, photograph courtesy of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
People love going places they normally can’t go. It’s why the Chciago Architecture Foundation’s Open House Chicago is always such a huge success each year. But you don’t have to wait until October to get a peek inside one of Chicagoland’s more unusual places: The Stickney Water Reclamation Plant.
Why would you want to? Well, first off, for bragging rights. The Cicero facility is the world’s largest wastewater treatment plant. And by large, we mean 570 acres big. It can slurp through 1.4 BILLION gallons of wastewater a day. And get this — it’s been in operation for 85 years. So it’s historic, too.
Tours start at 10:00am on Saturday, April 18th and run until 2:00pm.