All Chicago pools, beaches to open Monday, fully staffed with lifeguards
CHICAGO (CBS) – All pools and beaches in Chicago will be open on Monday for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
That included the end of a four-year dry spell at Humboldt Park Beach, the city's only inland beach that will be officially open for business on Monday for the first time since 2019.
"It hasn't been open for a while and we actually live in the area now so super excited that it's close to home," said Janyra Caro, a local mom.
The Chicago Park District also announced another welcomed change: families can hit all city pools six days a week. That had also not been the case in recent years because of park district staffing issues.
"I am just so happy that we are beyond the pandemic hiring issues that we had," said Park District Supt. Rosa Escareno.
The superintendent said this summer is different because of the ramped-up recruiting campaign that began last fall. About 2,000 people applied to be lifeguards for 2024. In reality, not all of them will make it to the lifeguard stand because of testing requirements. To help, the city launched a new "lifeguard explores" program for teens.
"We would pay them over $400 to learn to swim or brush up on their skills, getting them ready to be lifeguards," Escareno said.
More than 200 hires came out of that initiative, contributing to the ability to open up all pools and beaches. Some of the lifeguards need to do more training, but about 90% of them were fully certified and ready to work on Monday.
It was enough to give the park district confidence enough to say that the city did not have a lifeguard shortage this year.