City limits special events, ends co-sponsorships
By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Jan. 27, 2012
Elgin will celebrate its 35th annual Fox Trot this year, but it won’t be on Memorial Day.
The Elgin City Council announced during its Wednesday night meeting that the event is being moved to Saturday, two days before Memorial Day, in homage to the city’s veterans. The change comes despite the city administration projecting that it potentially will be a greater expense to the city, and a little more than a month after the council used cuts, new fees and new taxes to plug a $13 million gap in the 2012 budget.
The annual run in recent years has created conflicts with a Memorial Day service for the city’s veterans at the Elgin Veterans Memorial immediately north of Gail Borden Public Library. The conflict arose because some veterans were finding it difficult to navigate the street and lane closures done each year to accommodate the Fox Trot runners.
The discussion of the idea among the city administration apparently resulted in some confusion, Kaptain noted during the council meeting. During a media briefing Monday, city officials said changing the day of the race likely had been ruled out because of the additional cost and broader impact on the downtown area.
So, for the first time in its 35-year history, Fox Trot will be held the Saturday before Memorial Day instead of on the actual holiday, which is a Monday.
While the city’s analysis indicated the move actually will inconvenience a greater number of people than when it is held on the actual holiday, members of the council expressed hopes that the change will have benefits. Businesses are closed on Memorial Day, when the race traditionally is held. Changing it to a Saturday will ensure businesses are open, and they might convince some of the runners to visit some of Elgin’s downtown businesses after the race.
Rescheduling the race came as the council took action on the administration’s recommendation to consolidate the city’s special events in the year ahead to cut costs yet opening those events to greater participation by local groups and nonprofit organizations.
Also changing is the city’s co-sponsorship of separate events, whose costs now will fall entirely upon the sponsor, including reimbursing the city for its costs associated with their events.
