Lollapalooza to limit access to Buckingham Fountain
BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter ldonovan@suntimes.com August 3, 2011 2:10PM
People who don't have a Lollapalooza ticket can't come in and see the Buckingham Fountain---Sun-Times photo by Tom Cruze
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Updated: November 14, 2011 12:18AM
Because of Lollapalooza, people won’t be able to visit Buckingham Fountain this weekend unless they’re part of a guided tour. The fountain usually is open to visitors from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, but, starting Friday, visitors without tickets to the Grant Park music festival will be limited to guided tours between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. — before the songs start Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “Some of the folks who visited last year, didn’t have good intentions,” Chicago Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said Wednesday when asked why more of Grant Park is being closed to the public this year during the festival. Last year, some people tried to get in to Lollapalooza by acting as if they were going to see the fountain, Maxey-Faulkner said. The fountain — one of Chicago’s top tourist attractions — was cordoned off to all visitors even after then-parks Supt. Tim Mitchell had said it would remain open. This weekend, anyone who wants to see the fountain should look for a tent marked “Buckingham Fountain Access” on East Congress Plaza Drive, just south of East Congress Parkway, to join one of the pre-concert tours. In addition to Buckingham Fountain, other areas in Grant Park set aside for Lollapalooza that will be closed to the public this weekend include the “dog friendly area,” a skate park and the tennis courts at Ninth Street and Columbus Drive.
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