The weather has been hot in Chicago for weeks, but the Park District has not been able to hire enough lifeguards to open pools in the neighborhoods. Last week, they said with only 55% of the "targeted number of qualified seasonal lifeguards" the Park District will be able to open less than half of the outdoor pools.
With only 55% of lifeguard positions filled, the Chicago Park District is limiting access to “underutilized” beaches in order to redeploy staff to neighborhood pools, 37 of which will open July 5.