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Nightmare on Chicago Street draws 15,500 visitors to downtown Elgin

Nightmare on Chicago Street, Elgin's signature event, set an attendance record Saturday with an estimated 15,500 people flooding downtown.

And that's with stiff competition from the Cubs' winning the National League pennant.

"We would have had more people ... but I'm happy the Cubs won," Elgin senior management analyst Aaron Cosentino said.

It's too early to tell whether this might be the first year the event has yielded a profit for the city.

The event consistently attracts the biggest crowd of the year at the Elgin Public House, 219 E. Chicago St., owner Greg Shannon said. Only St. Patrick's Day comes close.

"We were as full as we could get," he said.

Iran Garcia, owner of Dog's Paw Brewing, 74 S. Grove Ave., said business was good, but not as great as last year. "I know people who got tickets but stayed home to have Cubs parties," he said. "But I am glad they won."

The festival's footprint this year was expanded along Grove Avenue, but it appeared many didn't know that because foot traffic was heavier along Chicago Street, Garcia said.

The event went very well, the only hiccup being sometimes busy lines at the gates, Cosentino said. "I think the entertainment and the artistic elements on it were amazing. We got a lot of compliments on that," he said. "For next year one of our focuses is going to be moving the lines more efficiently."

City officials said 7,060 tickets were sold online and 5,559 at the door, plus another 2,613 tickets were given to nonprofits and 270 for volunteers, yielding a total of 15,502, Cosentino said.

Last year's event was attended by an estimated 13,800 people, at a loss of $13,340. There were $181,739 in revenues from ticket sales and VIP parking passes, but totals from vendor fees, profits from liquor sale shares and expenses related to staff time aren't yet tabulated, Cosentino said.

VIP parking spaces at $20 each at the Spring Street deck were available for the first time this year, and all 220 sold out before the event, Cosentino said.

The city implemented a new in-house, web-based ticketing system that avoided convenience fee costs and allowed the city to track cash ticket sales at the entrance. In past years, city staff members were entrusted with delivering all cash at the end of the night.

There were no reports of disturbances, and three calls for medical service, Police Cmdr. Ana Lalley said.

  A tank and soldiers were part of the scene during Nightmare on Chicago Street Saturday in downtown Elgin. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  An overturned car is part of an apocalyptic scene at Nightmare on Chicago Street Saturday in Elgin. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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