The iconic “J-Slide” was designed by a structural engineer, Stanley Jachec, whose family purchased the property that became Sunnyhill Beach. The popular site, and its landmark slide and platform on Wauconda’s Bangs Lake, closed in 1992.

A Lake County landmark since 1945, Phil’s Beach holds memories for generations of people. The familiar “J-Slide,” which stood 45-feet tall and was designed by Stanley Jachec, dropped swimmers down the chute to glide over the waters at Bangs Lake in Wauconda. It closed in 1990, due to insurance obligations and costs, and was in the possession of the Reilly family, descendants of original owner, Phil Froehlke.

The village’s Park District Board approved the purchase of the 3.5-acre site on a unanimous 5-0 vote, during its Sept. 13 meeting, at a cost of $690,000. The board is now seeking proposals from design firms with a “best use” intent, and an eye toward re-opening the beach in May 2018. While no timetable has been set for public input, the process is still in the initial stages.

“We’re doing our due diligence to see what needs to be done for a public beach area, and we want to have the public enjoy it as a swimming beach again,” said Nancy Burton, the Director of Parks and Recreation for the district. “The biggest advantage is obviously that there is limited public access to Bangs Lake. And, we want to find a way to keep the open space.”

The property has been fallow since closing 26 years ago. The iconic “J-Slide” is still at the site, although set on land for storage. The park district is not considering to put the slide back in operation because of safety standards and insurance regulations that have changed over the past decades. Instead, district officials are looking for a mean to preserve the slide as part of the beach’s history.

“It’s still on the property, and it’s very big … when we look at it, it tells a story, and we want to incorporate it into a historical display about the beach, on-site,” said Burton. “We’re working on the master plan for the park, and the slide is an important part of it. As a board and staff, we thank the Reilly family for their partnership with us, and entrusting the site to us.

“It will be kept as an open space, and we commend them for keeping that way for all these years,” she said. “This is a great thing and the idea had a lot of community support.”

Phil’s Beach was opened in 1926, by Froehlke, on the western side of Bangs Lake, a short distance from the historic downtown area on Main Street. Next door to Phil’s Beach, was Sunnyhill Beach, owned and operated by Jachec’s family. Both sites were popular with weekend tourists, often creating traffic tie-ups that blocked access through the town.

Opened in 1945, Sunnyhill Beach was a 3-acre parcel purchased by Jachec’s mother with a $10 down payment to the seller, the mayor of Wauconda. The beach was closed in 1992, due to rising insurance premiums, with equipment and other items given away, and the property being sold to residential developers. Jachec died in September 2014.

The beaches were also featured in the 1979 John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd film, “The Blues Brothers.” In a later scene, the “Bluesmobile” with an oversize attached speaker, is being driven on Phil’s Beach to advertise an upcoming show. Crews also used part of the nearby crossing of routes 12 and 176 in one of the chase scenes.

There are currently 17 parks within the district’s system including the lakefront sites of Beach Park, and a marina.

“Bringing the Phil’s Beach site is an important acquisition, and we’re shooting for everything to follow in the right order, and keeping a timely forward progression on it,” said Burton. “If it all comes together like that, we could be open by May 2018, for that summer season, for people to enjoy.”