Northbrook Days organizers propose Metra lot for festival's return this year

It won't be at Village Green, but after a one-year hiatus it appears the Northbrook Days Festival could return this summer.

Meeting as Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, trustees viewed a slide that proposed holding the 96th Northbrook Days festival on a large part of the Metra Station West 1 commuter parking lot.

The fest's planned footprint is bounded by the train tracks to the east and Shermer Road to the west, and slightly south of Walters Avenue down to around Maple Street extended. Parking for people with disabilities may be considered for the northern tip of the parcel.

"As of today, it looks like we have what appears to be a very good and safe alternative so that Northbrook Days 2021 can be held in the downtown area," said retiring Village Manager Rich Nahrstadt, who during the regular board meeting that followed had his tenure extended until Sept. 30 or a successor is hired.

No specific dates were stated for Northbrook Days, typically a five-day festival in August with carnival rides, live music, games, raffle drawings, food and drink. It serves as the main fundraiser for the all-volunteer Northbrook Civic Foundation. Since 1950, the foundation has awarded more than $3.2 million in college scholarships and grants to organizations.

For 94 years Northbrook Days had primarily been held at Village Green Park in the heart of downtown. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the festival in 2020, though raffle ticket sales still raised $38,000. According to a post on the Twitter site about the 2018 festival, the last time it was held in Village Green, it raised $100,000.

Shortly before the 2019 festival, the Northbrook Park District roped off areas of Village Green that had been saturated by rain, and the festival was moved to a Northbrook Court parking lot.

The Civic Foundation asked park district officials last September about returning to Village Green in 2021. The Park District responded in October that it must have the ability to cancel an event on its property due to weather, and that carnival rides must be situated on concrete or asphalt surfaces to protect natural resources.

The park district instead suggested a two- or three-day food and music festival at the downtown park, but the Civic Foundation said the rides are critical to its fundraising and its appeal to families.

The commuter lot location pleased Northbrook Days Festival Committee Chair Matt Settler.

"We do like this location," he said.

"We don't know what it's going to be like; this would be brand-new for everybody. But it would all be contained, and I think that is the No. 1 goal here. And listening to the community, this is what they want, and I think that's what our main goal was, to accomplish that," Settler said.

"I think this is great. It keeps it downtown," said Village President Kathryn Ciesla said.

Ciesla and Nahrstadt - who drew applause from those present in the Sandy Frum Board Room - both praised the entities that had joined the Civic Foundation in brainstorming alternative sites for the festival. They included Northbrook School District 28, the Northbrook Public Library and the park district, as well as village staff members including Kelly Hamill, director of Public Works, who Nahrstadt said initially floated the commuter lot idea.

"We anticipate we would be able to use that space; there's just not enough commuter demand at this point even into August," Nahrstadt said. "We think this will be doable. There's enough other commuter spaces."

Other locations considered included a return to Northbrook Court, two separate downtown parking lots, the Village Hall campus, and the combined use of Greenbriar School property and the Village Hall campus. Each of those proposals were discounted for various reasons.

"After this is over, let's debrief and let's see how it went and figure out lessons learned, and if this is a successful venue or if it isn't," Ciesla said.

"But I also think we would have an opportunity - and I don't want to run into crunchtime like we did this year, but who knew what was going to happen with COVID - but I would be willing to use whatever assistance that I may give Civic to see if we could work with other community partners to adjust if this is not going to work.

"We certainly have to be mindful of commuters," she added, "but maybe we've found something that will move forward with us."