Water purification plant renamed for former Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The city of Chicago honored former Mayor Eugene Sawyer on Monday with a renaming ceremony of the South Water Purification Plant.

The plant will now be known as the Eugene Sawyer Purification Plant. The plant is located at 3300 E. Cheltenham Pl. on the South Side along the lake near Rainbow Beach Park.

Sawyer worked for the Sewer Department for 12 years before serving as alderman for 16 years. He was elected acting mayor in 1987 after the death of Mayor Harold Washington.