Record crowd, smaller loss for Elgin's 'Nightmare'

Elgin's signature event, "Nightmare on Chicago Street," drew a record number of people this year but still ended up in the red, albeit significantly less than last year.

The Oct. 24 event - which turned six downtown blocks into an apocalyptic scene with performances, props and Halloween-themed booths - cost the city $13,340, after about $178,200 in revenues and about $191,500 in expenses, according to documents released by city officials. It was attended by 13,776 people, up from 12,500 in 2014.

"It's one of the events that brings people downtown," Mayor David Kaptain said. "When you look at the number of people that came there, you can say the investment was a buck a person, give or take."

Last year, "Nightmare" ended up about $34,000 in the red. The largest loss, about $45,000, was in 2013.

This year, Elgin increased revenues by hiking the price of tickets from $7 in advance and $10 at the gate to $12 in advance and $15 at the gate. The city also made $11,000 more than last year from alcohol, food and retail vendors, and spent a little less in publicity.

Costs increased $56,000 this year, including nearly $5,000 for weather insurance, $23,000 in city labor, about $7,700 in props and decorations for a new circus-themed area, and $7,425 for Cirq de Freak performers, documents show.

This was the event's fifth annual edition, so the goal moving forward will be to break even, said Barb Keselica, special events and community engagement manager. The event won't expand further next year, which means there will be no need for new props, and the city will ask for proposals from beer and liquor vendors to maximize profit-sharing, Keselica said.

"As long as we can maintain the amount of people coming, we should break even," she said.

"Nightmare on Chicago Street" brings more customers to downtown businesses, which in turn increases sales tax revenues to the city, Kaptain said.

Business owners agreed.

Greg Shannon, owner of the Elgin Public House, said the event is "one of the best days we have all year 'round" - and its effects are long-lasting. "We get all kinds of people who've never been there before, and they end up coming back," he said. "That's always a great thing."

This year people started arriving downtown to browse and shop hours before the event kicked off at 6 p.m., said Ray Maxwell, owner of Antiques and Uniques. "We probably did a week's worth of sales that day," he said.

Spending public money on "Nightmare on Chicago Street" is "absolutely" worth it, Maxwell said. "That $13,000 (loss) to the city is actually peanuts as far as I'm concerned. You have to chalk it up to publicity. There are people who have never been to downtown Elgin that are going to come back. They told us that."

The event also generated $16,200 for several nonprofits who sold tickets and kept the proceeds in exchange for volunteer hours.