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Nightmare on Chicago Street worth $34,000 deficit, Elgin says

Nightmare on Chicago Street great for businesses, city says

The city of Elgin lost about $34,000 on Nightmare on Chicago Street, but city officials say the event is well worth it because it boosts sales for many business owners while attracting thousands to downtown.

The yearly street fest, which many consider the city's signature event, was held Oct. 25. It shut down six blocks of downtown and attracted an estimated 12,000 people to a party-like atmosphere of music, apocalyptic props and Halloween-themed booths.

A financial analysis completed by the city this week shows expenses were $134,293 with revenues of $99,907, for a total net loss of $34,386. The 2014 event - for which tickets cost $7 in advance and $10 at the door - cost about $10,000 less than the 2013 edition, said Barb Keselica, the city's special events and community engagement manager.

An additional $6,300 was generated for local nonprofits who kept the proceeds of sales of tickets allocated to them by the city, Keselica said.

Most special events organized by the city yield losses of about $20,000 to $40,000, Keselica said. The only exception is the Elgin Valley Fox Trot, which breaks even, she said.

The goal, besides the entertainment value, is to promote downtown, Keselica said.

"You can't just put a billboard on Route 20 and expect that people are going to come here and see it. You have to give them a reason to come see it," she said.

Ronald Weiner, owner of Mr. Cheaps Mattress, agreed.

"It was a good day," he said of his nearly $1,000 in sales Oct. 25, including a twin size mattress."If you amortize (the city's cost) over a year period, and I don't think they spend much on marketing, I think that's cheap. And it (attracts) people from outside of Elgin into Elgin."

Other business owners reported great sales, Keselica said. The owners of Mr. Tequila's Mexican restaurant said it was its biggest night ever, and the Elgin Public House doubled its sales from the year before, she said.

Councilman Terry Gavin pointed out the city also gets a share of sales tax revenues from that night.

"From my knowledge of the growth of it and how the businesses downtown have profited, I have been very satisfied with how the city handled it," he said.

The event was borne out of a conversation between Keselica and representatives of Acme Design in Elgin, and it has grown exponentially since the first edition in 2011.

Councilman Toby Shaw, however, said he has reservations about the event, which he doesn't consider family-friendly.

"I'm not opposed to it from a financial perspective, but I'm not fond of the themes and what it stands for, from a religious background," he said.

The city's labor costs increased from about $26,000 in 2013 to about $40,700 in 2014, mostly because of the event's larger footprint and more logistical planning involved, Keselica said.

Moving forward, the city should look into getting sponsorships or even hiring a private company to run the event to decrease expenses, Councilman John Prigge said.

Planning for the 2015 edition has already started, Keselica said. Although nothing's been finalized, her recommendation would be to keep the same footprint while taking a look at the usage of props to maximize the space, she said.

"The more we expand, the more our expenses will continue to increase. At some point we have to cap it," she said. "One bad year when it snows or it rains really heavily, we're not talking a $40,000 loss. We're talking a $100,000 loss."

It's great for Elgin to have something unique, Councilman John Steffen said.

"It's nice to have an event that we're kind of ahead of the curve on," he said. "A lot of communities around us and beyond our area have contacted us and contacted other groups to try to copy this and re-create this on their own."

  The city of Elgin lost a little more than $34,000 on the October Nightmare on Chicago Street, but it attracted more than 12,000 people downtown, which brought extra revenue to local businesses, city officials said. The 2014 event included spray painting and a '90s hip hop music stage. Elena Ferrarin/eferrarin@dailyherald.com
  The city of Elgin lost a little more than $34,000 on the October Nightmare on Chicago Street, but it attracted more than 12,000 people downtown in a party-like atmosphere of music, apocalyptic props and Halloween-themed booths. Elena Ferrarin/eferrarin@dailyherald.com
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