Former inmates want to drive free Waukegan beach shuttle

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Updated: March 12, 2012 8:04AM

Last summer at the Waukegan Municipal Beach, the members of Former Inmates Striving Together took on such tasks as participating in cleanup programs and staffing the concession stand, which had been a victim of municipal budget cuts.

For 2012, the nonprofit group, which helps men and women re-enter society following incarceration, is hoping to establish a free shuttle program that would transport riders on a seven-stop circuit from downtown to the beach.

“For years, we have talked about the need to build a bridge from downtown to the lakefront,” FIST president and founder Joseph Schmitt said in a report presented to the City Council. “The project would bring a 15-passenger lakefront shuttle bus to our area. There would be no charge to riders, but a donation fare box would be displayed to help defray gasoline expenses.”

Under the FIST proposal, the service would operate from May 1 to Oct. 31. During beach season, or Memorial Day to Labor Day, the hours of operation would be daily from noon to 10 p.m. Off-season shuttles would run only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.

The proposed route would start from Benny Plaza at Genesee and Clayton streets, heading south on Genesee Street to a stop near Water Street at Green Town Tavern. From there, the route would take Belvidere Road down to the lakefront and stop at both the south harbor and Siver Park before following Seahorse Drive to a turnaround stop at the beach house.

The second half of the loop would head north on the Amstutz Expressway to Greenwood Avenue, featuring stops at TR’s Front Row tavern and Bowen Park before heading back south on Sheridan Road to Benny Plaza.

While the project hasn’t advanced to the point where a vehicle has been secured, Schmitt told city officials backing is being sought not only from the city but local businesses and “all those interested parties who support the economic growth and development of our vastly under-utilized lakefront attractions.”

Letters of support were filed with the council by management at both Green Town Tavern and Fiamico Ristorante on Sheridan and Grand Avenue. Green Town’s Robert Sobol said a shuttle program “will bridge the accessibility gap between downtown Waukegan and the Waukegan Port District, (and) provide boaters with a venue to meet their downtown dining and entertainment needs.”

Another FIST initiative that has advanced to the active stage is an entrepreneurial training program that is scheduled to conduct its first meeting Feb. 18 at the College of Lake County’s Lakeshore Campus, 111 N. Genesee St. For more information, call (847) 672-9924.