Kenosha County is accepting proposals from businesses interested in managing a concessions operation at Silver Lake Park Beach, Parks Director Matthew Collins announced recently.
Collins said the county is seeking a qualified vendor with previous restaurant experience to bring customer service at the beach to a higher level.
The county is specifically looking for a vendor that would provide food and beverages, Collins said, adding that additional services that could be considered as part of a proposal include merchandise sales and beachfront rentals of watersport equipment, cabanas, chairs, towels or other such items.
Collins said the sale of alcoholic beverages would be considered but is not a requirement.
“Just about anything is on the table,” Collins said. “We feel that this is a viable destination for a stay-and-play type of partner to help us with really increasing the exposure of Silver Lake Park Beach. We’d like to expand to that next level of services that we know we cannot internally provide.”
This request comes as the county has seen success with public-private partnerships to add amenities and activities to other parks. These include the highly popular Petrifying Springs Biergarten that opened in Petrifying Springs Park in 2017, and the Boundless Adventures aerial adventure park within Bristol Woods Park that debuted in 2019.
Collins said the county would like to see a Silver Lake Park vendor begin operations in 2023 or 2024.
A request for proposals, issued last week, requires vendors to submit their sealed proposals by 3 p.m. on March 16.
Complete proposal packages may be obtained from the State of Wisconsin’s VendorNet website https://vendornet.wi.gov/. To receive notifications of addendum and future bids and proposals, vendors must register with https://esupplier.wi.gov.
“We look forward to seeing the proposals come through and giving them thorough consideration,” Collins said.
In the meantime, the county is continuing to seek candidates for its regular seasonal parks positions, including lifeguards and other beach staff. These job postings are listed on the county website, at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/jobs.
For more information about Silver Lake Park and all of the county’s other parks locations, visit https://parks.kenoshacounty.org or follow Kenosha County Parks on Facebook and Instagram.
