Restoration of Illinois Beach State Park becomes model for other shoreline projects
ZION, Ill. (CBS) -- CBS News Chicago has been covering concerns about the dilapidated shoreline at the Illinois Beach State Park for years—but now, the once-once forgotten beach has become a model for shorelines across the country.
On Monday, leaders across the state celebrated the early completion of this project, which surprisingly came in under budget.
"Miles of shoreline that were being eroded and depositing the sand actually in Waukegan Harbor, where it didn't need to be," said Beach Park Mayor John Hucker.
Hucker said that erosion, and the lack of investment in the area, had the effect of keeping people from visiting the vacation destination just south of the Illinois-Wisconsin state line.
The last time CBS News Chicago spoke with Hucker was in July of 2019—when his beloved Illinois Beach State Park was shrinking at a rate of about 100 feet per year, and the entire area was in need of investment.
Fast forward more than five years, and the evidence of the $72 million project can be seen firsthand by beachgoers—who notice a much wider beach, and 22 stone breakwater structures to protect against erosion. The breakwater structures cover about 12.2 acres of lakebed.
The largest capital project in Illinois Department of Natural Resources history also brought in nearly 430,000 cubic yards of sand.
It was a big investment in the lakefront that Gov. JB Pritzker said will be worth it.
"There was a very real possibility that we could lose it forever," Pritzker said. "That would have put critical ecosystems at risk."
The project will be watched closely, because it is a good example of an innovative design focused on lower-impact and less-expensive measures to protect a shoreline.
"The type of breakwaters that were installed are unique," Hucker said, "and so this will be maybe a model for other Great Lakes areas—and maybe other areas in the world."
Mayor Hucker said attendance is already up at the beach as of this summer, and the newly-renovated hotel and convention center has also seen more visitors.