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A Look Ahead At Election Night Bash In Grant Park

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Oct 30, 2008 6:37 pm US/Central

A Look Ahead At Election Night Bash In Grant Park

Reporting
Jay Levine
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The formal application to the Chicago Park District for the use of part of Grant Park Tuesday night offers an idea of what the Obama campaign has in mind for its invited guests. But we're also learning more from a variety of sources about what everyone else who wants to go should expect.

The tent city taking shape at the south end of Grant Park is designed for what the application calls 7,500 participants – that's the media and VIPs – and 65,000 spectators, who'll gather inside a temporary enclosure, now surrounded by a 7-foot tall chain link fence.

Organizers wouldn't let CBS 2 inside Thursday, but from the roof of the nearby Chicago Hilton and Towers, workers could be seen assembling floors for the tents and a main stage from which Sen. Barack Obama will speak only if there's a clear winner that night.

Camera positions already soar over the field. And a special cell phone tower has been erected.
Inside concession tents, the application reveals there'll be pizza, hot dogs and hot chocolate sold to spectators. But free food and drinks for VIPs.

What we don't see yet are provisions for as many as a million people Mayor Richard M. Daley says will descend on the area without tickets.

"You cannot say it's only for 65,000," Daley said. "I think Senator Obama's campaign understands that, you cannot make it an exclusive party for a few. Senator Obama's campaign has never been about a few, it's been about many people so that's what we're trying. You can never says you can't come down, I tell you one thing the voters will always, always remember you."

Daley didn't seem to have the specifics on exactly how the Democratic National Committee planned to handle all those people. The city will announce Friday that streets surrounding the park are to be closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening. And the CTA has announced plans for extra buses and trains to run far into the night, much like they do during the Taste of Chicago.

Chicago police have canceled all days off for next Tuesday. Off-duty firefighters are taking their gear home to speed their response if called in. And while problems, like the gang-related shooting outside the park during the Taste last summer are relatively rare, concern about people's safety reaches all the way down to school kids who asked Chicago police Supt. Jody Weis about it when he was their principal for a day.

"We are confident we can handle it, make sure people are safe," Weis said. "It will be a good function in Grant Park."

We should hear more from Weis Friday at an afternoon news conference which has just been scheduled by the city Office of Emergency Management. But what we do know is that the gates will not open until 8:30 p.m., and a close race could lead to a long wait, and perhaps no speech by Obama at all.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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