Seven years after the installation of a fence at the end of South Avenue, the village is about to take it down.
At their Oct. 19 board meeting, village board trustees unanimously voted to authorize Village Manager Phil Kiraly to enter into a contract with a Wheeling-based firm to remove the fence and landscape the area to allow for greater public access and views of the lakefront.
Thus, the village is reversing course on a 2010 decision to put in the fence at the South Avenue spot, according to Glencoe Public Works Director David Mau. He said at the board meeting that neighbors expressed concerns at the time about public access to the area, which led to the installation.
But Mau said the situation has changed and it is now easier to enter the beach at nearby Dell Place.
“There is interest in the community in opening the area,” Mau said afterward. “Now that people can more safely access the beach at Dell Place, South Avenue can be considered more of an overlook, similar to Hazel and Park Avenue.”
Mau said village staffers have been meeting with the Glencoe Community Foundation – a group of longtime Glencoe residents who advocate for greater access to the lake and other open spaces – in preparation for the fence’s removal.
Mau said the reconfigured South Avenue space would have many of the same materials as the Hazel Avenue overpass, including a crushed stone path, landscape pavers, a low stacked limestone wall, as well as benches. He added that some trees may be planted over time.
To guard against people climbing into the area, Mau said shrubbery would be planted at the top of the bluff to discourage beach access and reinforce South Avenue as an overlook. He added that since the fence has been in place, vegetation has grown on the slope, making it more difficult for people to navigate.
Mau said he believed the fence would be removed in early November, with construction to begin on the new overlook afterward.
The approximately $60,000 cost of the renovation will not be a sole village enterprise, however.
The village’s cost of the project will not be more than $15,180, as the Glencoe Community Foundation has pledged at least $25,000, according to village documents.
“Any access that we have to Lake Michigan is precious,” said Michael Glass, a member of the foundation. “It’s nice that we can all enjoy a nice, scenic overlook.”
The Scheinfeld family – which lives on South Avenue – has pledged another $20,000, according to village documents.
Mau said there are seven village streets that extend to the bluffs along Lake Michigan.
Glass hopes the changes at South could foreshadow similar moves in the village.
“There are other street ends that we haven’t got to, and access to the lake is extremely precious to residents of Glencoe and all the residents of this planet,” he said.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
