Company Wants To Bring Amphibious Duck Tours To Chicago
(CBS) -- You already can tour Chicago by boat, segway or trolley. Now, WBBM's Regine Schlesinger reports the company that operates the Seadog tours at Navy Pier, wants to introduce a new way of seeing the sights.
They're called ducks, amphibious vehicles that can move on both ground and water. Dan Russell with Entertainment Cruises, says they date back decades.
"The first ones were actually used for wartime purposes, back in World War Two. I think they took them for land-based operations and then onto water to carry troops and such....We will be constructing brand-new state-of-the-art vehicles with all the modern day safety equipment and everything."
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Ducks already are used successfully in Boston and the Wisconsin Dells. Russell's company wants to bring them to Chicago.
"We would do a lot of the tour on the streets of Chicago: Magnificent Mile, River North, the museum campuses, Millennium Park and such. The water portion would be on the Chicago River, entering at Marina City and then exiting down at River City."
He says it would be a unique experience both for Chicagoans and tourists.
"It's not everyday that you get to ride a vehicle like this. And to be able to do it in this magnificent city and see all of the sights on land and on the water, all in one experience."
Russell says the company is "getting all its ducks in a row" as it applies for permits from various regulatory agencies. They hope to have the duck tours up and running this summer or next.
