Michigan City to close all beaches Friday

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. - Michigan City Mayor Duane Parry signed an executive order Thursday morning closing Washington Park, the city's zoo, the Senior Center, Sunset Grille, and all Michigan City beaches. The order came out of concern for the Coronavirus and went into effect at 12:01 Friday morning. Many took to the beach Thursday to get one more chance to soak up the sun before the beach closed for the foreseeable future.

"It's upsetting," beach-goer Yahira Jones said. "It's upsetting because I feel like I just got my summer started being here."

In a press release, the mayor's office said "This closure will undoubtedly cause inconveniences and disruptions to those who visit, utilize our beachfront, zoo, and park however the City is committed under these trying conditions to take precautionary and necessary measures intended to help reduce the risk of spreading the virus locally."

One Michigan City native, A.J. Serafin said the city will have its work cut out for itself.

"If you're closing this thing down, I've got to imagine it's a couple hundred thousand dollars a day that people from Illinois, people from Wisconsin, Iowa, people from all over the world come here to see our freshwater ocean," Serafin said.

LaPorte County Councilman Jeff Santana said the Federal Government has put measures in place to help local economies rebound.

"Understand that there are some funds that have been set aside by the Federal Government, for example, for the county in cities and municipalities to recoup some of the moneys that they are losing because of COVID-19," Santana said.

Mayor Parry's executive order lasts until 11:59 the night of Thursday, July 23. At that point it will be up to the Michigan City City Council to re-examine these closures.