Gary will close Marquette Park Beach starting Wednesday, Mayor Jerome Prince said.
Concerned about COVID-19’s spread, Prince said the beach will be closed for at least two weeks. The park’s shelters and parking lots will also be closed, he said.
Gary cops will be patrolling the beach and kicking off anyone there, Prince said. Marquette Park will still be open for recreation as long as people are keeping apart, he said.
“We continue to see almost daily double-digit increases in our new COVID-19 positive cases in Gary,” Prince said. “We also must ease the logistical strains on our public safety teams and our beach neighborhoods.”
Gary has seen 63 virus deaths and 1,047 positive cases, spokesman Mike Gonzalez said.
Gary Health Department Commissioner Roland Walker recommended closing the beaches for crowd control, Prince said. Last week, it tried an “experimental plan” to promote social distancing, while keeping it open.
“We will assess the situation over the next two weeks and explore ways we can reopen our beaches and still protect the public,” Prince said.
The move follows similar Indiana beach closures in Whiting and Michigan City.
On Monday, Gov. Eric Holcomb’s executive order calling for residents to wear face masks went into effect as the state’s COVID-19 positive cases continued to grow.
The reaction to the mask order has been mixed, as many national businesses announced their own mask mandates last week.
At the same time, the state’s school districts are attempting to decide how the new school year will start with some districts, including Gary and Portage, opting to begin with elearning.
Holcomb said his order will also require masks in schools for grades 3 and above by students, teachers and other employees, but that he would leave decisions on reopening schools to local officials.
Across the county line, beaches in Porter County remain open. In June, officials at the Indiana Dunes State Park and the Dunes National Park, noticed an influx of Illinois residents as the summer season got started.
“We sort of joke it’s an Illinois invasion. The good news is, with the beaches closed in Chicago, they’re discovering Northwest Indiana,” said Paul Labovitz, superintendent of the national park.
Litter and parking woes also are evidence of the large crowds, but Labovitz said a meeting in June was scheduled with state, county and other law enforcement officials, as well as representatives from the parks, to come up with a plan for tackling the challenges brought by heavy crowds day in and day out.
“We can’t chase away families because of a few bad apples,” he said.
The Associated Press and correspondent Amy Lavalley contributed.