Naperville rescues holiday Parade of Lights

Naperville's Parade of Lights will step off as planned on Nov. 27, despite fears over the weekend it might be canceled.

Naperville-based nonprofit Little Friends, which has sponsored the event since 2003, announced Saturday on Facebook that this year's parade was being scrapped.

Little Friends Executive Director Kristi Landorf said the organization was spending too much time trying to address concerns that street closures and safety precautions for the parade might negatively impact downtown businesses during one of the busiest weekends of the holiday shopping season.

"These routes, these details are traditionally worked out (by now). We weren't ahead of the curve this year," she said. "My job is to pay attention to what do my clients, what do my employees need? If my resources are finite, do they go to parades, or do they go to (them)?"

Landorf said discussions with police about the need for better security began last December. She said police noted safety concerns that aren't present at other parades because the Little Friends event takes place at night and is a shorter route.

"It's a real hardship for the float drivers and other people to see what's going on, on the side and in front of them," she said.

Police suggested placing bike racks along the route, to prevent children from darting in front of floats and to maintain crowd control. But that idea met with resistance from downtown merchants.

"Plenty of merchants said they never had a problem," Landorf said. "I think there's an equal number of people who are still worried about what this is going to look like, how it is going to work."

The parade cancellation announcement, however, was immediately met with an even larger outcry from residents. Mayor Steve Chirico and the Downtown Naperville Alliance contacted Little Friends and asked what they could do to keep the parade going.

On Monday, the groups met and worked out a solution that minimizes street closures and street parking blockages. The new parade route will begin at Centennial Beach at 6 p.m. and head east on Jackson Avenue to Main Street, then north to Van Buren Avenue. The parade is expected to last between 60 and 90 minutes.

"Every year there's been some sort of tweak," Landorf said, adding that the parade originally was held on a Sunday morning, then on a Friday night, before being moved to Sunday night. "We have a responsibility to support our community. To that end, we're always looking at how can we be the least disruptive to our downtown."

Landorf said the organization already is exploring options for a new location for next year's parade that will be outside downtown.