Officials mark start of Phase Two for Kenilworth’s beach project

Wearing hard hats and holding shovels, Kenilworth officials celebrated a moment a long time in the making on Wednesday morning.

Village trustees and staffers shared the stage with construction firm Bulley and Andrews on Sept. 17 on the beach overlook during a groundbreaking ceremony for Phase Two of the Kenilworth beachfront project.

Village President Cecily Kaz shared some words to kick off the event, thanking the board, the advising lakefront group and the community for guiding the beachfront project to this point.

“This has been discussed for as long as I’ve been on the board (8-plus years), definitely as long as I’ve lived in Kenilworth,” Kaz said of beach improvements. “It has been a constant dream to do more with our beach. … (The beach is) always in our hearts here in Kenilworth.”

Following shoreline-protection work in the first phase, the project’s second phase includes a bulk of the improvements and costs. Some of those upgrades include a new bathroom facility, additional storage, an ADA-compliant pedestrian ramp, improved access features and improved landscaping.

According to recent Record reporting, the second phase of work will cost approximately $6.98 million.

Money for the second phase of Kenilworth’s beach protection and modernization project comes in part from a $2.5 million bond issue that voters approved this past March. Village officials expect that roughly a third of phase costs will come out of the 2025 budget; the remaining two-thirds are to be part of the 2026 budget.

“It’s a milestone for the community in moving this project forward,” Village Manager Kathy Thake told The Record. “Phase One was shoreline protection, and here we are at Phase Two — a lot of discussion, a lot of community input and we’ve finally arrived at that day.”

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