Chicago’s residents will continue to have access to all 50 outdoor pools and 22 beaches as Park District prepares for annual staggered closings in preparation for Fall programming.
This summer, the Chicago Park District successfully opened all of its 77 indoor and outdoor pools in neighborhoods across the city to ensure Chicago residents, including summer day campers, had access to safe options for swimming during Chicago’s hot summer. As Summer Day Camp culminates and Chicago Public School students as well as college students return to the classroom for the start of the school year, and athletes begin Fall training sessions, the Park District’s pools will begin to close for the season.
“As temperatures rise, so does the necessity for access to public pools, water spray features, and cooling areas for everyone. As the leading provider of public outdoor spaces for respite from Chicago’s hot summers, the Park District’s strong workforce efforts guaranteed that all Chicago residents had access to pools and beaches during Chicago’s warmest month,” said Chicago Park District CEO and Superintendent Rosa Escareño. “Hundreds of seasonal lifeguards are students that head back to school soon, and it’s important that we balance the needs of our residents and young workforce to keep as many public pools open through the end of summer. In addition to our 26-miles of lakefront, ensuring access to three high-capacity outdoor neighborhood swimming pools through the end of summer will be vital to our goal of keeping everyone cool and safe this summer.”
This year, the Park District successfully reached the goal of training and onboarding a diverse group of lifeguards to safely open all Chicago Park District indoor and outdoor pools as well as Chicago’s lakefront beaches. At the beginning of the year, the “Your Perfect Summer Job” recruitment campaign promoted the life-saving job to young adults, which now make up 78 percent of the lifeguard team. More than half of the lifeguards safeguarding beaches and pools today are residents from Chicago’s South and West sides, 77 percent are people of color, and 61 percent are women.
Staggered summer schedule for beaches and pools is as follows:
- August 5: Indoor pools will close for the season as young workforce returns to school;
- August 20: Outdoor pools will close for the season to provide necessary maintenance for pools and prepare staff for Fall programming session;
- September 4: Chicago’s 22 beaches & 3 neighborhood pools to remain open through Labor Day;
- September 5: All indoor pools will reopen for open swim and lap swim;
- September 11: Fall aquatics programming begins;
- September 30: Water spray features close for the season.
Chicago Park District’s lifeguard corps is composed of trained employees, many of whom are high school and college students, and as they give notice to return to school, the Park District will make corresponding staffing changes to adjust to the number of guards available to safely open pools. As a first step, the Park District will close indoor pools for the summer session on August 5th. This will allow all remaining outdoor pool locations to remain open through August 20th. The summer pool season will culminate on Sunday, August 20th, the day prior to the start of the Chicago Public School (CPS) academic school year. As a safety measure, when pools are emptied for the season, spray features located adjacent to outdoor pools will also close.
The Park District will perform regular maintenance and repair work on indoor pools during the two-week period leading up to the start of the Fall session. Days of operation for the Fall will be determined by park hours and staff capacity.
Extended Summer Pool & Water Spray Feature Season
A total of 22 beaches will remain available for swimming daily through Labor Day, September 4th, while lifeguards are on duty, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To serve Chicagoans with limited lakefront access, the Park District will continue to staff the following three outdoor neighborhood pools through Labor Day, September 4th.
Washington Park Pool (5531 S. King Dr.)
- Pool Depth: 0 ft. - 10 ft.
- Pool Size: 50 meters, 8 lanes
- Features: Outdoor, ADA Lift, Has Water Slide
Humboldt Park Pool (958 N. Sacramento Ave.)
- Pool Depth: 4 ft. - 10 ft.
- Pool Size: 25 meters, 6 lanes
- Features: Outdoor, ADA Lift, Has Water Slide
Portage Park Pool (4100 N. Long Ave.)
- Pool Depth: 3 ft. - 5 ft.
- Pool Size: 50 meters, 8 lanes
- Features: Outdoor, ADA Lift, ADA Stairs, Water Playground
These select pools are some of the Park District’s largest and best able to accommodate a large volume of patrons at any given time. In addition, the variety of features, such as water slides, pool depth range and ADA accessibility allows for pool users of all ages and abilities to safely use the facility. Pool schedules of the extended summer pool season will be posted on the Park District website by August 4th.
In addition to beaches and pools staying open through Labor Day, and in an effort to offer more heat-deterring options through the end of summer, the Park District will also extend the water spray feature season through Saturday, September 30th. Spray features are traditionally turned off when pools close for the summer season. For a complete list of water spray features, visit here.
Start of Fall Session
All indoor pools will reopen on September 5th, after the Labor Day holiday, for open swim and lap swim. Regular fall pool programming, such as Learn to Swim, Aquatics Exercise Classes, TEAM sports, will start the week of September 11th.
Planning for next season
Despite the persistent national lifeguard shortage, the Park District galvanized a strong aquatics workforce to open all pools this year, and nearly 50% more than last year, and provided families across the city with access to enjoy neighborhood pools as well as the lakefront beaches. During the season, the Park District continued to actively recruit residents ages 16 and older, to fill seasonal lifeguard positions vital to fully staffing and keeping the city’s beaches and park pools safe.
“We can’t stress enough the importance of Chicagoans learning how to swim,” emphasized Escareño. “Swimming is an essential life-saving skill that could help in life-threatening emergency situations, and lead to career opportunities in public service, such as lifeguarding and/or the Coast Guard and Police Marine Unit.”
Currently, the Park District is strategizing to build and reinforce workforce pipelines where swimmers will train and prepare for positions as lifeguards next summer. The Park District will remain steadfast in strengthening the beaches and pools labor force by inviting seasonal lifeguards to apply for positions as year-round lifeguards and working with partners to increase access to Learn to Swim opportunities.