(MCT) — With attendance continuing to rise, Chicago's Gay Pride Parade organizers have rerouted Sunday's celebration to include the Uptown neighborhood.
Organizers say the parade route has also been extended by five blocks for safety and crowd control.
Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, said the organizers knew changes were necessary when last year's parade drew 750,000 people, up from 200,000 just five years earlier.
"We knew the previous year's route, which trapped many constituents in my ward between Halsted and Broadway for nearly the whole day, would no longer work," Tunney said. "Last year, we had too much congestion in the central Lakeview neighborhood."
Instead of stepping off at Halsted Street and Belmont Avenue, as it has for the last 20 years, Tunney said this year's parade will start farther north at Montrose Avenue and Broadway and head south through the Uptown and Lakeview neighborhoods, wrapping up at Diversey Street and Cannon Drive.
The parade has also been tightened to 200 participating groups, down from 250.
Tunney, Ald. James Cappleman, 46th, and parade organizers gathered Tuesday to talk about the changes to the parade route and the reasons behind the decision.
The main reason is to increase safety, an issue Tunney said the group has been working on since the day after last year's parade. The new route is intended to create more viewing space and additional access to public transportation, he said.
"We'll also be able to open the streets back up to the community more quickly after the parade is finished as soon as possible," Tunney said.
This year's parade will wind past Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, but Tunney said the church has been supportive about being along the route. Organizers considered moving the parade to a 10 a.m. start time, but stuck with noon so Mount Carmel could celebrate Masses and get parishioners in and out before the parade, he said.
Max Bever, a spokesman for Tunney, said last year's route created a "huge crunch" of parade-goers at the Belmont and Halsted intersection.
The CTA's Belmont station had to be closed five or six times last year because of overcrowding. Organizers are hoping the extension of the parade north will disperse crowds among the Addison, Sheridan, Wilson and Lawrence Red Line stops.
The old route formed a "V" shape that trapped residents and emergency vehicles, Bever said. The new route allows for viewers to get to the east side of the route with the help of stationed police officers, he said.
Buena Park resident Leeloo Levay said last year's crowd was pushed back against the windows at Roscoe's Tavern on Halsted and one of the windows began to crack.
Veronica Wade, an Uptown resident for more than 30 years, said she's glad to see the parade extended. "There needed to be more space," Wade said. "Hopefully now it won't be as congested."
But Independence Park resident Kerry Skrobo said one of her favorite parts of the event was meeting friends at the Halsted and Clark streets intersection, a spot that's no longer part of the route.
"My friends and I loved the excitement and crowd at that intersection," Skrobo said. "It was our usual meet-up spot."
Cappleman expressed excitement for the Uptown community to become part of the new route.
"We have two openly gay alderman who are having gay pride parades in their wards," Cappleman said. "This is something the city of Chicago should be very, very proud (of)."
