Highland Park Dog Beach Closed Indefinitely After Path Fails

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Moraine Park Dog Beach is closed indefinitely after heavy rainfall this spring triggered a shift in the ravine path leading to the shoreline, according to park district officials.

"This past May, we had record rains that led to failure on a few spots along the path," Jeff Smith, assistant director of parks and planning for the district, said at a board meeting last month. "Dog pass holders unfortunately do not have access to Moraine Dog Beach at this time, however they do have access to the year-round site at Fink Park."

Smith said district staff have met with several contractors, city engineers, an outside engineering firm and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which recently began a feasibility study earlier this year to explore pays to mitigate bluff erosion in the area.

"The short version is: there is really no quick fix for this," Smith told park district commissioners at their June 26 meeting. A retaining wall has failed, and some of the flagstone had shifted, he said.

"What we understand at this time," Smith said, "is the bluff needs to be stabilized." District staff are waiting for the completion of the Army Corps' feasibility study, which will determine whether or not restoration will move forward. If it does, it is expected to take between 18 to 24 months to get started, he said.

"We don't want to come in and do any stabilization that could likely get undone in the larger project that they may do," Smith said.

Commissioner Cal Bernstein said fixing the path would likely involve putting in pylons to shore up the bluff and could take years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"Once people have a dog beach it's hard to take it away from them and it's hard for us to tell them that it's two years before we'll have any idea what an answer would be," Bernstein said. "I'm guessing this answer is going to be well into the six figures, and so then it's a question of how do we pay for it."

Moraine Park is the site of the once-grand Hotel Moraine, which opened in 1892 and closed in 1970 before the city voted overwhelmingly to spent $1.2 million to buy the 14-acre site, according to the park district and the archivist of the Highland Park Historical Society.

Smith said district staff were unsure if the ravine path dated back to the time of the hotel. He said the currently unsafe path certainly pre-dated the park district taking over the site in 1998.

The Moraine Park Dog Beach has previously been open from April and October to people who purchase memberships. Park district officials announced anyone who purchased a pass this year and wishes to cancel it may receive a prorated refund by calling the Heller Nature Center at 847-433-6901.

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