Lovers in Chicago may soon have another choice for taking a romantic boardwalk stroll in the moonlight. The Chicago Park District is floating an idea for a proper boardwalk at North Avenue Beach.
North Avenue Beach (via Apple Maps)
Until now, the epicenter of wood-over-water hand-holding was Navy Pier. But that’s so crowded, it’s hard to call it romantic most nights unless the moon is really really full. The North Avenue Beach boardwalk is part of a larger project intended to improve the flow of both people and cars. The Trib broke the news.
The proposal also includes better transit and rideshare access, outdoor showers, and public seating areas.
The Chicago Park District is going the public-private route to fund the project, much as it did with the Argo Tea house at Connors Park in the Gold Coast. As usual, park advocates and neighborhood groups say they were caught off guard by the idea, which became public as part of the process for finding new concessionaires for the beach. Bids for that were due last week.
The Park District says it’s too early in the process to discuss details of the plan. It hopes to have the boardwalk ready for the 2020 beach season.
Location: 1603 North Lake Shore Drive, Lincoln Park
Editor founded the Chicago Architecture Blog in 2003, after a long career in journalism. He can be reached at chicagoarchitectureinfo@gmail.com.
