Why is the island in Washington Park behind a locked gate?

On a recent day, Jonathan Schlesinger took a walk through Washington Park on Chicago’s South Side. He works for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and he was scoping out the lagoon for a fishing event. A couple of bridges cross the water to a roughly 9-acre piece of land called Bynum Island. When Schlesinger walked across one, a tall metal fence stopped him. He wondered why the island was gated off and if this “lost world” would ever be open to the public. Bynum Island has been…