As fence opponents confront Park Board again, officials say decision on 2025 to be made sometime in offseason

The Wilmette Park Board continues to absorb vocal criticism from opponents of a fence at Gillson Beach, with residents continuing to demand its removal at the board’s public meetings.

That criticism was on full display during the public comment period at the board’s regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 12, with most of the 16 speakers addressing the fence at some point during their remarks.

As previously reported by The Record, the park district implemented new procedures at the beginning of the season for South Beach, turning it into a fee-based beach with a designated swim area and a slatted dune fence that surrounds the beach and limits access points.

Park district officials have continually cited years of ongoing safety concerns for guests and park staffers as the primary reason for the shift.

Ever since, the board and park district staff have faced criticism for the changes, with the fence being the main point of contention.

Patricia Smith said she’s “very disappointed that nothing is resolved in this situation.”

“Nobody has touched the fences; nobody has put any graffiti,” she said. “It’s a very controlled environment.”

Smith also complained that she noticed the fee was still being charged at 6:30 p.m.

Paul McKinley questioned the fence’s presence and the board’s reasoning, including concerns about alcohol consumption, “which have been around for 100 years plus and (were) managed just fine. I don’t know why these things can’t be managed anymore.”

Some speakers complained about the way lifeguards have treated visitors to the beach, while others challenged the fence’s legality at a public beach, and one person suggested that, if the beach belongs to the community, members of the public could remove it themselves.

Anastasia Royal, who called on the board to resign and accused them of taking “authoritarian control” over the beach, expressed her opinion by singing a modified version of the song “Maria” from the musical “The Sound of Music” to get her thoughts across.

“How do you keep the others out of the park if you could? How do you make us believe it’s for our own good?” Royal sang in one of her lyrics. “You pretend there’s incidents to fear, and greenwash us about prairie grass so dear. And make us all think the beach is a violent hood.”

She also sang about charging children $10 to swim in a public body of water and accused the board of ignoring its critics.

Royal concluded with, “How do you solve a problem like Gillson’s water and sand? How do you crush a moonbeam in your hand?”

While the board didn’t directly respond to anybody making a public comment, during his report, Executive Director Steve Wilson clarified some frequently asked questions the park district has received, including one about what will happen to the fence.

Wilson said it will be removed “shortly after the 2024 swim season,” which is Labor Day weekend.

Regarding the future, Wilson said the park district will determine whether the fence will return after analyzing feedback received over the summer.

“We’re going to take all of that into consideration, we’re going to take staff observations of day-to-day management into consideration, we’re going to take input from the board into consideration and make decisions through the public meeting process for what 2025 looks like,” Wilson said.

Addressing one public comment made earlier in the meeting, Wilson also said anybody who is found vandalizing the fence is likely to face criminal charges.

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