By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
John Prigge asked his fellow Elgin City Council members on Wednesday night to consider placing limits on carnivals in the downtown area.
Councilman Prigge did not request a council vote on the matter – and likely would have met with some resistance if he had. Councilman Robert Gilliam said he wanted time to think about the issue before he would consider voting on anything.
But Prigge said a vote is not what he was asking for – just that the council begin considering some kind of limits on them for possible action down the road.
Noting there have been three carnivals held in Elgin’s Center City area in the past four years, Prigge said he does not believe it is the best place to hold such events.
The last carnival, held at Kimball Street and Douglas Avenue, was spread out over eight days during the first two weeks of May. The Community Carnival Fundraiser was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Elgin Area, the Elgin Public Museum and the YWCA Elgin.
While they do draw more traffic into the area, Prigge said he doubts whether that traffic benefits downtown businesses. In fact, Prigge said he has talked with some Center City business owners who believe their commerce has suffered because of the carnivals.
“I do not believe anyone who comes to the carnivals visits downtown businesses,” he said. Prigge also noted that uniformed personnel must be stationed near businesses’ private parking lots to ensure carnival-goers do not park in spaces for business patrons.
Many of these businesses are small operations already having a tough time while trying to compete with big stores. Prigge said they’re having to deal with carnivals, as well, is too much.
Finally, Prigge pointed to the steps the city is taking to help the downtown area move forward, “but we lose something when the carnivals are held” there.
Prigge maintained there are more appropriate venues for such activities, noting that the Meijer Store on Randall Road has appreciated the traffic it has received from the Oktoberfest celebration there.
Prigge also asserted that criminal issues have arisen with downtown carnivals, but City Manager Sean Stegall said that while some problems arose at a carnival in 2009, the Elgin Police Department offered some suggested changes that were made immediately, preventing recurrences of that particular issue.
Mayor David Kaptain said the pluses and minuses of carnivals “all depend on how you look at it.” He said that during the carnival, he visited one restaurant where a waitress complained it was driving off foot traffic. Later that afternoon or evening, however, Kaptain said it was a standing-room-only crowd.
Other discussion focused on the possible use of Festival Park for such activities, but Councilman Richard Dunne said that was not possible. The utilities crisscrossing the area that it becomes an issue if a carnival ride needs stakes in the ground to help secure it.
