Good chance Chicago beach access will be available next summer, Dr. Arwady says

Chicago’s public health commissioner had some optimistic words Friday for people who miss going to the city’s beaches.

This Labor Day weekend would have marked the end of beach season in Chicago, but it never got underway because of the pandemic.

Call it the summer that was not for the hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans who enjoy heading to the beach, and of course, it happened during the city’s hottest summer on record.

On a sunny and warm Friday evening, thousands walked, jogged and rode bikes along the lakefront. But Chicago Police on ATVs and scores of lifeguards were patrolling the beaches to keep people off the sand and out of the water.

So, 2020 is a lost season for beachgoers. But the question now is what will the situation look like in 2021?

Chicago’s public health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, says there is a good chance we will be back in the water next year.

“I am really hopeful if we have an effective vaccine...that we’ll be in a place where we’re really starting to get our hands around this,” she said.