Carpe Diem, Baby!: North Ave. Beach Shut Down Due to Heat

I was biking past North Ave when they closed the beach at 7.  They claimed it was closing because lifeguards were no longer on duty. Huge police presence, and it was a totally sketchy, ghetto crowd -- a bunch of thugs.  I'm glad they closed it down.

I (unfortunately) rode my bike down the lakefront path right around this time en route to the show at Pritzker, and I'm willing to bet this had more to do with crime/fights and the demographic of the crowd.  I witnessed 2 fights break out between North Ave and Oak St beaches and had numerous people talk shit to me for having my bike (which was being walked most of the time) on the bike path.

This is classic Chicago. Panic and shut it down. It's like when they closed the gates to Salt N Peppa last summer in Grant Park bc it was "too crowded". I've never seen so many angry women pressed up against the fence. There was plenty of room all around me and my blanket inside. 

So, let me get this straight.  We had morons who couldn't figure out that if they were really hot they should go jump into the LAKE that was no more than 300 feet away from them? 

I really don't know who was stupider in this, the idiots who got heatstroke at a beach, the idiots who couldn't move their asses out of the way of paramedics, or the CFD who panicked and shut down an entire beach because of their inability to make people freaking move out of their way.

I heard the water temp was 46° which is probably why they didn't go into the lake.

I may be dumb, but what's the point of going to a beach if you're not going to swim? Anything you can do on the beach you can do in your local park--and you won't have to stand on scorching hot sand.

I think you guys are thinking too much like adults and too little like knucklehead youngsters. My understanding is that the knucklehead contingent was getting pretty rowdy and the inability to move emergency personnel made the police think they'd have trouble getting to trouble. Reaction? Shut it all down.

Well, if any word sums up the thought processes of the typical Chicagoan, it's "knucklehead."

Yep, it was that cold.  But you don't have to immerse your whole body in the water to cool off.  Stick your feet in for 5 or 10 minutes and it will cool you off.  Of better yet, stick your head in it for 30 seconds.

Or you can be a moron.

According to the parks district, current water temperature is 53 degrees. A ten second dip in 53-degree water won't kill you. It will actually feel pretty good on a hot day when you're flirting with heat exhaustion.

"The proverbial shit got heavy round 5:30 p.m."

Solid. Fucking. Gold.

What?! Shut down because of the heat? Isn't that one of the exact reasons why it should be open? What the hell?

Saying they were shut down "cause of the heat" is a bit disingenuous. The beach was shut down so that emergency vehicles could have proper access to  people having medical emergencies.

Good point! Color me disingenuous. :\

This post seems to allude to alcohol by mentioning that none of the four taken to hospitals were over 21 years old. So has Chicagoist learned that these people were drinking?

We weren't the only ones who mentioned that the four who were treated for heat-related stress were under 21. Check the links.

Yeah but I can't directly communicate with their editors like I can with you guys so thought I'd ask. Sorry for the typo.

It's okay. That the people who suffered from heat-related stress are under 21 is a newsworthy item. We have to thread that fine line between reporting that, without making the implication that alcohol was involved. For all we know they may have simply been suffering from too much sun. - Chuck

I feel that, thanks for the insight.

I wonder how much of this was alcohol related. Booze and sunshine tend to mess up the ol' body, especially when there hasn't been any warm weather since like last October.

Interesting that Chicagoist noted that all the people taken to the hospital were under 21. So, IF they were drinking (not saying they were, but its a possibility) they are of the type that has not learned yet how to handle their drinking responsibility....in other words, you have to hydrate yourself on a hot day. beer doesn't hydrate you. Drink one glass of water for every beer consumed.

You know, to everyplace else in the country the phrase "day at the beach" refers to something incredibly easy. Chicago people can't even get a day at the beach right without having to close the beach when it gets slightly warm. Morons.