Could the South Side Irish Parade Return?

Do folks in Beverly really want a return of this? (Photo by Ron Reason).

After two years without the large scale excess and drunken stupidity that accompanied the South Side Irish Parade, a small group of residents met at the Beverly Arts Center yesterday to discuss options to resurrect the parade on a larger scale while keeping a rein on the reasons people swarmed the neighborhood in the first place.

Leading the "public airing of feelings" was James "Skinny" Sheahan, one-time parade and special events chief for Richard M. Daley. Sheahan said he believes that the parade can be revived, so long as they curb the public drinking.

“If the parade comes back, it’s going to be part of a bigger thing. It’s not just the parade. We’re looking at making this a whole weekend of activities, positive activities,” Sheahan said. “The parade has to be refocused. It has to be about what it was originally. It has to be about families. There should be no alcohol [on the street] during the parade, period.”

When the South Side Irish Parade was last held in 2009, 54 people were arrested, nearly all of them for public intoxication. One was arrested for aggravated battery of a police officer. A dozen officers were assaulted and over 300,000 people crammed themselves into a three-mile stretch of South Western, all in order to be Irish for one day a year.

Scenes like the one we decided to run with the post and this video from flickr pool contributor Katherine of Chicago were the reason the South Side Irish Parade Committee voted 12-9 to table the event last year. That narrow vote didn't reflect the feelings of Beverly and Morgan Park homeowners, who were in favor of canceling the parade by a 10 to 1 margin.

The parade committee is considering proposals that would put a moratorium along the parade route prohibiting public drinking, shorter parade routes, earlier start times, and establishing checkpoints on side streets to check for open containers and prevent bus shuttles from taverns from entering the parade area.

We're not convinced this can happen. St. Patrick's Day, by design, is Amateur Hour. Even trying to tie the parade into a larger weekend festival means that resources will have to be allocated for the public intoxication that will happen. Parade committee spokesman Jim Davoren said they're open to bringing it back if they have a plan in place. If they can't, maybe Sheahan and his allies can try once again to try a grass roots version of the parade.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@chicagoist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Chuck Sudo in News on August 2, 2011 9:00 AM

Comments [rss]

Guest

If they're worried about drinking, I'm not sure why they don't just run the parade down Longwood Drive, where there are zero bars. It would definitely be more family-friendly and a much prettier route than Western Ave, in my opinion.

Ellen Hayes

I don't know where the "homeowners were in favor of canceling 10 to 1" bit comes from, not from the article linked.

We've had parties the last two years, many of the neighbors continue to do so and they all note how much they miss the parade. Yes, elements got out of hand, but I really doubt that statistic.

And the bars on Western Ave are hurting already in this troubled economy, and eliminating the parade took away a very large part of their yearly revenues. And while there are a few rather large bars, most of them are family owned and operated with rather small operations.

Like Aaron said, the buses were NOT organized by those bars, but by far away bars profiting off the event.

chicagoist_tips

The 10-to-1 ratio came from a tribune article that was part of our link in the fourth paragraph. If you can't find it, here's the original Tribune link.

For What it's worth, you're experiences are in the minority of Beverly and Morgan Park residents I've talked to. They've actually been happy with the smaller scale side street celebration of the past two years. - Chuck

Mary Walsh

You need to speak with more Beverly residents. I can direct you to several. Actually speaking with people would provide much more info than the people "reportedly" calling the alderman's office. Did you ever notice that for every 1 person who complains, there are at least 10 who are happy?

ChicagoD

I never, ever, ever went to the South Side Irish parade, but isn't the issue that the bars in the area make a killing on the parade? If the bars agreed not to bus people in, not to run drink specials, etc. wouldn't that solve lots of the problem? Since I think there's no way the bar owners would do that, the parade seems dead to me.

aaroncynic

It's not really the bars in the area, but more the rest of the bars in the city, along with everyone else that decided it would be Chicago's Marti Gras. I've gone on and off since I was a little kid, and each year would get more progressively crowded. The last year of the parade (I've got a few friends in the neighborhood) I was sitting on a friend's porch around 8AM when two full buses from some Wrigleyville bar rolled down the street with about 100 already blasted people, looking for parking. At that point the final nail was pretty much in the coffin.