BG Days prepares for move to Rylko Park in 2016

With Buffalo Grove Days over for another year, the village is moving ahead with plans to shift the annual Labor Day weekend festival to Rylko Community Park.

The fest is moving from the town center because of plans to expand Lake-Cook Road beginning in 2016. It is expected the festival will be relocated for two years, and possibly longer.

"We're concerned about the confluence of construction traffic with lane closures, as well as trying to cross pedestrians during the event," Village Manager Dane Bragg said. "Ultimately, the taper will end at Raupp (Boulevard), so you (will) have a lot of areas where it goes from six lanes down to four."

Last year, a volunteer riding a golf cart was struck when a vehicle ran a red light at Lake-Cook Road and Raupp.

"It was at that point that we really decided to evaluate it," Bragg said.

Paulette Greenberg, one of two BG Days co-chairs, agreed.

"We would have a very serious safety issue if we kept the festival where it is," she said.

Officials considered holding the festival on the village campus on the north side of Lake-Cook Road, but decided that couldn't happen without damaging the Buffalo Grove Golf Course. Staffers also looked at what once was the Buffalo Grove Park District's Community Arts Center, but it was not large enough.

That left the Rylko site.

"It was built as a community park to be able to accommodate larger events," Bragg said.

Greenberg and J.V. Springman, the other BG Days co-chairman, are part of a relocation committee, which also has park district, police, fire and public works representatives.

The plan, said Bragg, is to draft an intergovernmental agreement between the village and the park district.

Greenberg said one tradition will remain in place - the parade will stay on Bernard Drive and empty at Emmerich Park.

"I think you will all be pleased with the work we have done behind the scenes to put together the 2016 Buffalo Grove Days," she told the village board last week.

Greenberg added that the 2015 festival was a success, with carnival ride sales strong and good work from the 47 volunteers who ran the event.