As criticism mounts over the use of public parks for large-scale events put on by private companies, leaders at the Chicago Park District are moving to change their code to mandate a board vote to sign off on events with more than 10,000 daily attendees.
Park Board President Myetie Hamilton announced the proposal at Wednesday’s board meeting. Under current district practice, agreements that generate revenue are approved directly by the superintendent, skipping board signoff and reducing the opportunity for the public to comment on such permits.
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The announcement comes days before Riot Fest kicks off in Douglass Park, and weeks after festival management let go of an event organizer and apologized to the community for the “tone” of a neighborhood meeting meant to address neighbors’ concerns.
That Aug. 2 meeting was the first of its kind by Riot Fest in the seven years since the festival landed in Douglass Park, and was mandated by the district. But residents said it was poorly advertised, held in the middle of a weekday and didn’t include chairs for the elderly or an interpreter for Spanish speakers.
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The meeting — along with complaints that the city recently agreed, with virtually no public input, to host Lollapalooza in Grant Park for another 10 years — fueled opposition to the presence of for-profit festivals in public parks, which sometimes close off public access for weeks at a time.
A group of opponents presented a letter to the board today, demanding that the city and district “stop allowing Douglass Park to be used to host large, for-profit festivals.”
Their letter asserts events such as Riot Fest, Summer Smash and Heatwave limit programming, as the park is fenced off for “a minimum of 46 days.” Such events also hurt local vendors, who typically sell during soccer games, and restaurants, whose regulars are driven away by noise and traffic, the letter states. Other concerns are that the festivals extend response times for ambulances serving Mount Sinai and St. Anthony hospitals and that “repairs made to the park do not fully address the damage done by the festivals, and they certainly do not address the major infrastructure needs that Douglass Park has had for many years.”
Documents provided to the Chicago Park District and obtained by the Tribune through an open records request indicate park repairs — turf and sod work — following last year’s Summer Smash festival cost $47,600. This year’s cost was roughly $130,000.
Riot Fest’s repair estimate for last year was $44,600. Turf repairs for this year’s Heatwave festival are only estimated to cost $4,800, though the work will not take place until after Riot Fest, a Park District representative said.
Signatories to the opposition letter include Únete La Villita, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Pilsen Alliance, United Working Families, Enlace Chicago, Friends of the Parks, Chicago Sierra Club, state Reps. Lakesia Collins and Edgar Gonzalez and state Sen. Celina Villanueva.
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Local elected officials and neighbors near Grant Park have also expressed frustration that the city’s “front yard” park is off-limits for several weeks each year before and after events such as Lollapalooza, and will be further limited during next year’s inaugural NASCAR street race.
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At Wednesday’s meeting, Hamilton acknowledged the frustration, saying during her first year leading the board she became “very aware of the challenges, and how much these events impact daily operations at the parks within our communities.”
She later said: ”Our goal here is to ensure that there is a heightened level of coordination around these events, in addition to keeping community voice at the forefront of the process.”
But district officials also pointed out such permits generated nearly $20 million in revenues, allowing the district to hold off on raising property taxes to pay for operations.
Because the proposed change would alter the board’s code, the district is opening up the amendment to public comment for 45 days and must be OK’d by the board.
Among events with permitted attendance over 10,000 in 2022 (not including those held at Soldier Field) are popular athletic staples, including the Chicago Marathon, the Shamrock Shuffle and Bike the Drive, as well as the Taste of Chicago, Hyde Park Summer Festival and The Chosen Few picnic, plus festivals such as Pitchfork, Riot Fest, Suenos and Lollapalooza.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced at this year’s Lollapalooza — which annually attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Grant Park — that the music festival will remain in Chicago for another 10 years. Park District officials later said the 10-year contract did not need park board approval and have so far released only a three-page summary of the agreement.
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