City Council Approves $1.7 Million For Forest Park Boardwalk Rebuild

LAKE FOREST, IL — The City Council has approved a $1.7 million agreement with a construction company to build a new boardwalk at Forest Park.

The new wooden pathway will extend from the upper parking lot to the playground at the beach. It will be accessible for wheelchairs and strollers, according to city staff.

The original boardwalk was removed more than five years ago due to safety concerns following heavy rains

Last year, councilmembers approved a design package for repairs to the bluff and boardwalk and bid them out together in February.

But bids exceeded available funding, so the City Council took staff advice to go ahead with the $546,000 bluff reconstruction first and awarded a contract in April.

In September, city staff sought bids to build the boardwalk and its wooden decking, with the lowest bidder coming in just under $2 million, including a 10 percent contingency and a lighting allowance, according to a staff memo.

But that does not include the money to buy the wood decking, which staff expect to present to the council sometime in the next two months after finalizing a grant agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

The agreement with Chicago-based F.H. Paschen, approved by the Lake Forest City Council unanimously on Dec. 5, will allow the construction company to get started before the grant is finished.

"Approval of the boardwalk construction agreement excluding the wood decking will allow for the Contractor to start ordering materials for the boardwalk structure, while staff continues coordination with IDNR for the grant to purchase the wood decking," Engineering Superintendent Byron Kutz told the council.

The city has pledged $1.3 million for the Forest Park Beach Pathway Project, with the remaining $1.2 million to be raised by private donors.

A virtual tour of a computer-generated rendering of the project was produced by the city and posted to its website earlier this month.

Earlier: Lake Forest Approves $2 Million Rebuild To Beach Access Road