Holstein Park

The pool is not for adults who just want to get some sun. They have lounge chairs but you are only allowed to place them in a small, mostly shaded area. And there are frequent 15 minute breaks & longer mid-​day closures where they not only clear the actual pool but anyone laying outside of it has to leave. And I watched the «lifeguards» harass a mom who didn’t want to take off her t-​shirt because apparently you HAVE to wear a swimsuit. Bizarre.

The lifeguards are so grouchy and awkward and the hours are decided by a random number generator, but the pool is so pool!!! And it’s free! And it’s full to the brim with cold water and dads playing with their babies and moms laying out– the place is awesome!!!
I found these hours online, but they definitely are not 100% accurate– I’d say half the time I go I end up standing in my swimsuit watching the pool empty out and go home:
Weekdays: 1:00 — 5:45
Weekends: 10:30 — 4:45
Also the lifeguards all take their breaks at once (lay on the concrete, lick Doritos off their fingers) so everyone has to get out and watch their break-​time rituals.
Please stay open later so us working saps can take a dip after a long water-​free day at the office!!!

This review is for the pool only. First off, there is no zero depth entry, as the website suggests. There is a separate small wading pool (cement floor) with standing water. For family swim, you are not allowed in the pool area without a swimsuit. Even though I was there with my husband and child who were swimming, I had to sit 5 feet from where I was previously, outside the fence. In addition to the 3 lifeguards actually watching, there were 4 more sitting around a table, goofing off, texting, swearing in front of kids, and talking about ordering dinner. Go to Hamlin.

Great Park! Great Pool – except that here it is June 7, and that big beautiful pool is completely empty! It’s such a short season. Why can’t the city open the park pool on the Memorial Day holiday? If this is a budget-​saving measure, it seems mean-​spirited to deny local residents access to a swimming pool in order to save money. There HAVE to be other ways the city can cut back on expenses.

The joys to be found in this park are numerous. Whether it be in taking a swim on a hot summer’s day, or a game of kickball on a crisp autumn evening, or an outdoor chess game on the nearby tables, this location has them all and many more. The park offers an outstanding array of amenities to the surrounding neighborhood. However, it isn’t all fun and games, screaming and oblivious adults and children abound. It’s open to the public, so you have to take the good with the not so great, all in all I am sure to return to this park many times over. Holstein Park is a great place to spend some time outdoors.

Great park. Except I got my wallet stolen (out of my purse) while sitting right next to it. Also, someone got their phone stolen while I was there (today). Probably won’t be going back…

Great place to do some chilaxing while your kid kicks it on the playground…

Love this park and the lovely pool. I would give it 5 stars, if not for the locker rooms, which are rather worn down.
Worth noting: I wanted to know the size of the pool and couldn’t find the info anywhere online so I used Google Earth to measure the pool. It is apparently 50 yards in length, which is 45.7 meters.

This is a great park! The hours are listed very clearly on the Park District website, for this year at least. Enjoy the open space!

PROS: This is a beautiful park and very clean swimming pool to take adults and children of all ages! There is an updated playground and nice places to have lunch with the kiddos. Parking is generally easy to find and the area feels safe. The swimming area is free of charge :)
CONS: The reason for the four star rating is the inconsistency of the pool schedule and unfriendly staff. The kiddie pool is open from 9 – 11 AM and reopens from 1 – 5 PM. Yet the kiddie pool lifeguard blew the whistle to clear up immediately after 10:30 AM… Its sad to see that not much as changed since Pamela C.‘s review from 2010. The lifeguard staff seem to be snotty-​nosed teenagers that are more concerned how much more leathery they could look This staff takes 15 min breaks throughout the day and EVERYONE needs to clear out. There is no postings of these break times so you are kind of stuck if one occurs during your visit.
SUMMARY: Despite these annoying cons, I will continue to visit the park and swimming pool area often. I would call the park before your visit to get more info on open swim and kiddie pool. Just cross your fingers you receive the right information.

Since our son was born, I’ve tried to go to the pool at Holstein about a dozen times. We’ve actually been in the water once. It’s either closed due to the threat of rain, or their hours never make sense.
Today we woke up to beautiful weather and decided to go to the pool. I checked their website, and the hours for the pool are difficult if not impossible to find. They have lots of times for programs, but nowhere does it say when the pool is «open» or «closed». So I call the park, but no one answers. Figuring the pool must be open by 10 AM on a Saturday, we decide to go to the park. Once at the park I look for some sort of sign to determine when the pool is open, but I could not find one. I asked three different parents at the playground and no one seemed to know, and one guy mentioned the pool has odd hours.
Finally, I track down a park employee and ask him when it opens. With a huff and a puff, he tells me 11 for the kiddie pool (about 6 inches of water) and 12 for the main pool. I ask him why it opens so late, and again he acts annoyed, as if he isn’t there to serve the public. I’m thinking, «Hey jerk, put up a sign or something!?»
Trying to figure out what we should do… wait an hour to sit in 6 inches of water… wait two hours to go swimming in an actual pool my taxes helped pay for… or find another park that is more dedicated to making their pool accessible to the public… the park manager comes in and mockingly asks the first parks employee «what time does the pool open?», as if it’s an inside joke between them. Douche bags.
By now my son has peed through his swim diaper and he needs to be changed. No changing table in the men’s room. I ask the parks manager where I should change him. The parks manager didn’t seem to know where there was a changing room, except in the women’s room. Thanks for that bit of information.
At this, I’m extremely annoyed and I suggest I change my son on their ping pong table. Instead he suggests the men’s locker room. I point out to him, the manager, that it’s locked because the pool isn’t open yet. Fortunately for my son, he was nice enough to unlock it for us.
While we’re talking I ask the manager why the pool schedule is so weird. He blames it on the Friends of Holstein Park group, who he claims demand the pool open at 7 AM every weekday morning so they can swim laps, and with a limited budget, they can’t open earlier on the weekend. Fantastic. Great idea. Don’t worry about young children who need to learn how to swim, and whose parents work during the week. My son naps at 12:30. Opening a pool at 12:00 on the weekends is idiotic. I’m beginning to understand why people move to the suburbs. Rahm Emanuel can make city data available on the web, but our local park can’t post their ridiculous hours. Can I please have my taxes back?

Holstein Park is spectacular!
Great pool, packed with people all summer long.
Events galore!
The Bucktown Apple Pie contest is one of the highlights of the Chicago summer.
Kick back at Holstein, one of our beautiful city parks!

POOL Only: How many summer days have I spent here? Probably 30 maybe 40 in the last 4 summers. A) it’s probably (hint hint) cleaner than Lake Michigan B) refuge from the heat with other sun lovers C) Its free! D) there’s an adorable little kiddy pool E) When you can finally tune out the screaming kids and the ice cream man’s bell (which you can NOT accept ice cream through the fence) which dings over and over again like the gal in front of Macy’s at Christmas time this place is amazing!
Cons– there are always no matter what where I place my towel kids doing cannon balls getting my entire towel soaked every time I come here so probably 35 times my towel has been soaked. :) Yay for the kids and summer fun though. More importantly the 12 life guards take a 15 minute break all at the same time around 1pm and 4pm in which they make EVERYONE stand behind the chain link half fence while they take off their orange vests and parade around the pool area chatting with each other. It’s very odd experience to watch to be honest. And lastly towels on concrete… no chairs. Hopefully this will discourage enough people to keep this somewhat of a hidden gem.
OHHH they make you shower prior to entering the pool area. I love it, I like it, it’s okay, I love it, I like it, it’s okay.

This review is for the pool. The park itself is beautiful and perfect for little league, kickball games, or just bringing your kids to play at the park.
I live a short walk away from the pool so it’s mucho convenient for me in the summer. The area is beautiful with the new playground and the historic park district but the pool rules, times, and frigid cold water leave much to be desired. In addition to the sometimes rude pool staff, the hours change on a regular basis and the staff’s response to the ever-​changing rules/​hours. I will say that you can find the hours on the website but don’t count on them being updated. They will also call breaks at random times throughout the day (sometimes I think they call it just minutes after Open Swim just to annoy us) where everyone needs to completely leave the deck for 15 minutes.
All-​in-​all, I complain about the above but there isn’t another pool within walking distance from my place so I’ll suck it up for a little sun.
With a little bit of management, consistency and organization, this pool can be one of the best in the neighborhood!

Another gem that I’ve only recently found in this beautiful city.
Holstein Park has a great pool with lots of kids and people. I was there on a Thursday afternoon and it was packed with families and young people all trying to get there «bronzage» on.
The deep end is huge. And it isn’t crowded because there’s no Las Vegas type stoop for people to sit on and pimp themselves out or try hard to look cool with their friends. Only negative — no flips. Whaaaack.
The rest of the park is beautiful as well. There’s a huge open field that doubles as softball field. There were people laying out on it, playing with their dogs on it, even one person meditating or something. So cool.
The playground looked like McDonald’s Playpen on steroids, with full water sprinkling areas and colorful climbing contraptions we’d all love to have had when we were younger. It looked like all the moms and their kiddies were having fun.
What else… there’s an indoor court, a gym and probably lots of leagues and programs too.
One of the nicest parks in the city… and kind of hidden in a cute way.
I know. I said, «cute.» Ugh.

I walk past this park every day on my way to the El. Currently, the trees by the entrance gates are in flower, so I walk slowly to breathe in the heady, floral scent.
Ah, Spring. :Sigh:
In addition to a lovely (free!) pool, Holstein Park also boasts a large, grassy expanse on the other side of the fieldhouse. As the weather warms up, the grass fills with children and dogs (and folks like me, sitting on a bench in the shade, reading and people-​watching). The grass was recently re-​seeded, so it is new! and improved!
The fieldhouse itself is an interesting structure; large and old with unexpected touches of stained glass. This past December, it hosted a pretty awesome craft fair, and as I walk past it in the evening I hear the squeak of gym shoes on a basketball court. The Park District really does a commendable job using this building to house programs for Chicago kids.

This beautiful park is the home to the Bucktown Arts Festival, but that’s another (5-​star) review. There’s a great kids playground here with a tiny fountain for the li’l ones. But the star of Holstein Park (mooo!) is the sparkling blue pool!
I was a bit confused as to where to enter after 1pm, as the Rules say something different than the Lifeguards or Staff had setup. Don’t dare set foot anywhere but the locker room or face certain death! But just talk about Michael Phelps and that certain death should be swiftly avoided. I set up near some lazy sunbathers, since that was my goal for the day. We were all splashed by some poor high school swimmers who apparently haven’t been taught not to kick above water and also favored cannonballs as a means to enter the pool. But all was peaceful, and having the Blue Angels entertain us on their fly-​overs for the Air and Water Show was just icing on the cake!
Didn’t care to be shuttled out at 3:45pm for 4pm Family Swim. Why clear the pool area just to fill it again? There is a nice little wading pool for really little ones and Adult Lap Swim twice a day. And to boot, swimming is free!!! Holstein Poooooooool!

I thought I had reviewed the pool here before but that’s obviously not the case. Let me unfold the tale of two pool times:
Open Swim: Martha Z and I have had many crazy times here at open swim, tanning, people watching, getting hit on by a mentally challenged man in a terry cloth robe… what could be a more entertaining way to spend a hot summer afternoon with no money? Keep in mind that you will get kicked, stepped on, jumped on and yelled at, and the lifeguards don’t give a rat’s ass about you, but it’s a small price to pay for the non-​stop entertainment and refreshing water.
Adult Lap Swim: This is my new obsession. Holstein Pool has not one, but two adult lap swims per day, every day. Now that my former teammate on the Y swim team won a silver medal last night and shamed me back into the pool, I will be spending a ton of time here. In fact I woke up at 6:45 AM thanks to the inspiring TV viewing that Matt Grevers and Michael Phelps have provided me the past few days. Believe it. The water is not cloudy, not hot, not too full of boogers, and minus one slowpoke in my lane, not too crowded with jackasses. A+

When we arrived at the park I was a bit surprised to see a boy (prob 6yo) standing by the play structures with his pants down around his ankles…
Aside from that, it was a fun playground! My daugher fell in love with slides again and was eager to play on the older kid play structure.
A fabulous place to expend some kid-​energy!

Rachel and I have spent many summer days here, lounging, people watching, and most importantly, swimming.
Here are a few highlights from my most memorable moments
The time that one of the lifeguards decked me the nose with a football, ala marsha brady style. Isn’t it reassuring that lifeguards can’t follow their own rules of «no horseplay»
The guy in the short terry cloth robe, who was lathering himself in baby lotion, he motioned us over to talk to him. We were scared. Later on when he was attempting a backstroke we realized he was mentally challenged.
One time Rachel and I were competing to see who could touch the bottom of the deep side first. I plummeted all the way to the bottom and when my toes touched the bottom of the pool I wasn’t touching the bottom of the pool, i was stepping on some kid’s crotch that was swimming by!
There are obviously far too many fantastic stories to list. My recommendation is to come on a weekday, when they have more open swim time. Bring your flip flops, sunscreen, sweet beach towel and enjoy one of the largest pools the chicago park district has to offer. Just please don’t trust the lifeguards with your life!