CHICAGO — Cold weather and floating ice chunks won't keep the Chicago River from going green for St. Patrick's Day, an organizer behind the annual tradition assured Tuesday.
"We've had ice in the river before, and we've never had a problem with it," said Kevin Sherlock, organizer of Chicago's Downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade said. "If we had a deep freeze of four or five inches of ice, then it would be a problem."
Sherlock said he's heard several concerns about the river being ready for dyeing after what has been the third coldest winter recorded in Chicago's history.
If the ice is too thick to keep the boat that will dump 50 pounds of vegetable-based dye from going on the river, larger boats will be sent in ahead of time to break up the ice, Sherlock said.
The tradition of dyeing the river started in 1961. This year's dyeing will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on March 15 before the annual parade Downtown.
