Pokemon Go gamers to gather Saturday in Arlington Heights
On the heels of a Pokemon Go site's being removed from Memorial Park in Arlington Heights, the park district will host a Pokemon Go Community Day at Recreation Park Saturday.
Niantic, publisher of the augmented reality game, removed a Pokemon Go "gym" last month from Memorial Park, where some neighbors complained of increased car traffic from gamers trying to collect the virtual characters popping up on their phone screens.
While Memorial Park still has "PokeStops" - which can attract fewer visitors than gyms - the larger Recreation Park less than a mile away now has a gym and four more PokeStops (for a total of six) added by Niantic after the park district announced it was hosting a Community Day.
The gamemaker hosts the monthly gatherings around the world where users have the chance to catch rare Pokemon characters over a three-hour period.
It's the first one the Arlington Heights Park District has sponsored since the game was created in 2016.
"Staff initiated the Pokemon Go Community Day as a way to get patrons out in the great outdoors, while having fun," said Anita Pacheco, a park district spokeswoman.
Gamers will be busy searching and swiping from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, but the park district is inviting them to check in as early as 11:30 a.m. to enter a drawing for a Pokemon Go Plus accessory and grab complimentary water.
Officials also encourage participants to check in on social media using the hashtag #AHPDPokemonGo.