Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Security is extra tight in Grant Park, where Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is planning an election night rally.

About 65,000 guests are expected to gather in Hutchinson Field at the south end of the park Tuesday night, along with 7,500 members of the media from around the world, and campaign staffers. Thousands, some predict close to a million, more are expected to fill an overflow area to witness the event.

View Map Of Grant Park

Beginning Tuesday, parking restrictions will be in place in an area of more than 3 square miles, from the lake to the Kennedy/Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94), and from the main branch of the Chicago River to Cermak Road And getting around downtown will be a challenge, even for those who aren't attending the event.

The Chicago Transit Authority and Metra are both providing extra service for election night:
 CTA Service Plan
 Metra Service Plan

Taking your car in the area will not be a good idea, according to emergency officials.

"Please, please use public transportation if you plan on coming down," said Ray Orozco, chief of the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

Transit officials are preparing for an event similar to the annual July 3 fireworks show, only on steroids.

Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority are packing their schedules with extra crews and service, ensuring that the rally's impact will be felt far into the suburbs.

Loop employers are being encouraged to send their workers home at 3 p.m. on Election Day to accommodate the influx, forcing Metra to start its outbound rush hour routine a couple of hours early.

Also, the commuter rail service is forced to cease operations after 1 a.m. Wednesday or risk exceeding federal limits on the number of continuous hours train crews can work. Downtown stations will stay open through the night if riders are stranded.

Some colleges with campuses within a couple of blocks of Grant Park have shortened their schedules or canceled classes and all are restricting access to their Loop buildings Tuesday night.

Because of "safety and security concerns due to the huge crowds expected at Grant Park," Columbia College has canceled all classes beginning after 3 p.m. and all campus academic and administrative buildings will close at 6 p.m.

Residence Centers will remain open and residential students with proper identification can attend viewing parties in their respective residence centers, according to a release from the school, at 600 S. Michigan Ave.

All college events and activities for the evening of Nov. 4 are canceled at Columbia.

The previously scheduled Voters' Block Party – sponsored by the Columbia Urban Music Association has been postponed until Friday at 6 p.m. at the Conaway Center, 1104 S. Wabash.

Robert Morris College, at 400 S. State St., will close at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
DePaul University's Loop Campus will close its doors a little earlier than usual Tuesday night. DePaul's Loop Library and computer labs will close at 8 p.m. on election night, and access to the DePaul Center building, at State and Jackson, will be restricted beginning at 7 p.m. Classes scheduled to end at 9 p.m. Tuesday will be let out a half hour early and all buildings and academic functions at the Loop Campus will be closed down at 8:30 p.m., just as the gates open at Grant Park for the election night rally.

At Roosevelt University, at 430 S. Michigan Ave., all classes will be held as normal, according to a release. Starting at 6:30 p.m. though, only people with Roosevelt University IDs will be admitted into the Auditorium and Gage buildings. After 9 p.m., no one will be admitted into the buildings.

The Obama event begins in south Grant Park's Hutchison Field at 9 p.m. and will end at 1 a.m., according to the original ticket application.

Police are restricting bags, folding chairs, signs and strollers inside the fenced area. While that may all seem like a hassle, and tickets are sold out, some Chicagoans say they will show up anyway to try to get close to Obama.

The area for the 65,000 invited guests is just a small part of the lakefront park, which stretches a mile and a half from Roosevelt Road through Millennium Park to Randolph Street. But it appears there is plenty of room for people to come down, even without tickets.

The city revealed that Tuesday night, everyone will enter the park via Congress Parkway. At Columbus, these with tickets will be directed south along Columbus to Hutchison Field , where the event will be held.

Everything else south of Congress will be off-limits to spectators, as will the Buckingham Fountain area, which is surrounded by a construction barrier.

Those without tickets will be directed north to the area around the Petrillo band shell, 3/4 of a mile away.

Those who acquired tickets were to get them via email sometime on Monday -- and can scrap plans to sell them for big bucks because each one is personalized.

The Democratic National Committee emailed ticket-holders Sunday with details on getting in to the event.

"Your ticket will be emailed to you on Monday, November 3, between 6:00 -- 7:00 p.m.," the email read. "Each ticket is personalized for the ticket holder and is non-transferable."

CBS 2's Joanie Lum, Chief Correspondent Jay Levine and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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

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