Elgin considering drastic cut in event cosponsorships

The 2012 special events season in Elgin may look far different from the one the city just finished, in which it co-sponsored close to 120 events.

City staff members are recommending a one-year trial with just five festival weekends and no non-city event sponsorships in between.

Barb Keselica, special events coordinator, said the move is largely to save money and parcel out dwindling staff time for the reduced event schedule.

“We’re trying to take what resources we do have and concentrate on five and make them good quality ones,” Keselica said of the festivals.

The number of special events hosted or co-sponsored by the city has grown dramatically since 2008, when there were one part-time and four full-time employees to process requests and handle planning. The events budget has been cut in half since then, and only one full-time and one part-time employee remain, Keselica said. During the same time period, the number of events the city has had a hand in has almost doubled.

The proposed 2012 festivals include the previously held Memorial Day Fox Trot, Fourth of July parade, July 27-29 Art and Soul on the Fox, Halloween Nightmare on Chicago Street and a new international festival showcasing the city’s diversity to be held Sept. 1.

Community organizations are encouraged to move their individual events to coincide with the festival weekends and benefit from free staging, fencing, outdoor toilets and trash, security, publicity and, presumably, larger crowds. These organizations would be invited to join festival committees and contribute to planning.

The city would cancel its Easter Egg Hunt, Lunch with Santa, Lords Park Concert Series and Traveling Neighborhood Movie Series but keep February’s Daddy/Daughter Dance, the Wing Park Concert Series, Movies in the Park at Festival Park and the holiday tree lighting ceremony.

“We’re trying to focus on the areas that we’ve had the biggest crowds,” Keselica said.

If council members approve the new schedule, the city will hold an informational meeting to discuss the changes. Keselica said all the 2011 special events applicants will be invited to the meeting, tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., on the 8th floor.