Holding Back the Lake

FOR 43 YEARS, TOM HEINEMAN HAS LIVED ON EASTLAKE TERRACE IN ROGERS PARK, a three-block-long street that runs past three beaches: Juneway, Rogers, and Howard. Every summer, he walked out the front door of his building, crossed the street to Rogers Beach Park, and dipped into the water.

Then came the winter of 2019–20. The lake rose to near record high levels. Violent waves coursed up the sand and overran the breakwalls. To save the parks — and the street — the Chicago Department