No more free beach parking

MAXED OUT: A SUN-TIMES SERIES

FACING UP TO OUR LOCAL AND STATE BUDGET CRISIS

Attention all motorists fortunate enough to find a close-to-the-beach parking spot this summer: No more free rides.

Pay-and-display boxes -- similar to those found elsewhere in the city -- have been installed in 1,500 of the 4,000 lakefront parking spaces, including at the 63rd Street Beach, 31st Street Beach and the Loyola Fieldhouse. The rest are expected to go in by June, said Chicago Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner.

The "pay and display" approach allows motorists to use credit cards, $1 bills and coins to buy time from a machine and display a receipt in the vehicle's front window.

The average cost is right around $1 an hour and is projected to generate $1.5 million in revenues for the Park District annually, officials say.