Kathy Osterman Beach (Hollywood Beach) (Chicago, Illinois)

 beach, park

Also known as Ardmore Beach - Located about 1500 feet south of the 42nd parallel.

This beach was created in the early 1950s after artificial fill was placed in the lake east of the buildings along Sheridan Road. The fill was designed to accommodate the drive and to provide public lakefront parkland. The old concrete seawall associated with the Edgewater Beach Hotel and Apartment complex may still be seen at the northeast corner of the large pink Edgewater Beach Apartment Building at Bryn Mawr. The Edgewater Beach Hotel complex, once located east of Sheridan Rd and north of Berwyn, served as an elite resort vacation spot. Prior to the migration of the movie industry to Hollywood, California, this area was frequented by Hollywood stars and other notable persons.

The Great Lakes combined are the largest body of fresh surface water on Earth. We would do well to treat it as the great treasure that it is, at least until the next ice age produces glaciers and engulfs this ancient valley once again.

Notice that the buildings of downtown Evanston, Northwestern University, and downtown Chicago can be seen from this beach on a clear day. At this latitude, the lake is only about 70 miles wide, but the curvature of the Earth limits our maximum view to the east to about 20 miles when we are standing, a bit more when on the seawall, and considerably more when on the nearby rooftops. Air inversion often permits the atmosphere over the lake to act as a lens or mirror occasionally providing land lovers with a glimpse of the dunes and bluffs of the Michigan shoreline.

The sunrise, moonrise, and the rising stars are particularly sublime and spectacular sites when observed along the lakefront.

Aside from its transient human occupants, the beach is populated by seagulls, shellfish, carp and gobies, to name a few. The occasional pigeon, squirrel, raccoon and puppy may also be seen.

www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/kathy-osterman-beach/