Cleaning Up Humboldt Park Post-Riot Fest Begins

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 16, 2014 4:20PM

The Friday rains that rolled through the Chicago area relegated Humboldt Park to a muddy mess last weekend. Our own Katie Karpowicz compared the smell and look of the Riot Fest grounds to a horse stable. So you know Mike Petryshyn and Riot Fest organizers are already preparing to cut a nice check to the Park District to leave the West Side park in better condition than they found it.

How much that will cost won’t be known until a Thursday walkthrough is conducted to fully assess the damage. Last year, repairs to Humboldt Park cost Riot Fest’s organizers over $54,000 but the combination of Friday’s rains and growing attendance may see that total eclipsed. An estimated 160,000 people attended Riot Fest last weekend, and the festival was twice the size as last year’s edition. The fest site is still fenced off as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, repairs from Lollapalooza 2014 continue at Grant Park. Upper and Lower Hutchinson Field remain fenced off to the public. The Park District estimates repairs related to Lollapalooza damage at $266,000.