National Park Service Amends Beach Closure Regulations to Support July 2 Fireworks Event

Date: June 27, 2013
Contact: Lynda Lancaster, [phone]

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE: Areas of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore national normally closed after sunset will remain open so that the public may watch the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce “Fireworks on the Lakefront” event staged off the coast of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park on July 2, 2013.

 
The entire Lake Michigan shoreline in Porter County, east of the NIPSCO generating station, is within Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. The park boundary extends 300 feet into the lake. Under current park regulations, this shoreline is closed to public use 30 minutes after sunset. In order to accommodate the fireworks event the shoreline from Dune Acres to Lake View will be open until 11:30 p.m. on July 2. Other park regulations, including the prohibition of the use of personal use fireworks on the beach and the prohibition of glass containers on the beach, will remain in effect.
The following areas will remain open on July 2, 2013, until 11:30 p.m.:

• Wabash Avenue parking lots and restrooms
• Kemil access (East State Park Road) parking lots and restrooms
• Dunbar parking lot and restroom
• Lake View parking lot and restroom
• Beach below the toe of the dune and park waters from the west end of West Road in Dune Acres to Lake View

All other closures and use limits in the 2013 Superintendent’s Compendium and 36 CFR remain unchanged. The public closure regulations remain in effect for all other areas of the park. The complete set of park regulations can be found on the park website www.nps.gov/indu/parkmgmt/lawsandpolicies.htm

There are no fees charged for parking in National Park Service parking lots, but, parking is extremely limited and lots are expected to fill long before sunset.

National Park Service personnel will be on duty during the event to provide law enforcement, emergency medical services, crowd control, parking management, and maintenance of National

Park Service areas. The National Park Service is supporting this event by waiving the normal Special Use Permit requirements, including fees and cost recovery charges.

If the fireworks event is rained out and rescheduled, the park’s open hours will not change on July 2, and the regulations as amended will apply to the rain date of July 5, 2013.

www.nps.gov/indu

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is part of the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 402 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.