NORTH LAWNDALE — In an almost empty Douglas Park, Ronnie L. Davis sat with two friends late morning Friday and looked at photos while his nephew played at the nearby jungle gym.
When asked what the park might look like at this time next week, when the eclectic, alternative music festival, Riot Fest, will inhabit the space, Davis put down the photos and talked excitedly.
"It will be a break from our boredom," he said with a laugh. "I'm curious. It's gonna be fun to see how it turns out."
After three years at Humboldt Park and a contentious relationship with some Humboldt neighbors, Riot Fest announced this spring that it would move to Douglas Park, which straddles North Lawndale and Little Village.
Set-up for the Sept. 11-13 fest began in earnest Friday. Crews for a rental company were setting up tents and mobile street lights Friday morning, while crews for the city trimmed tree branches along Sacramento Drive.
Davis, who lives at 13th Street and Washtenaw, said he frequents historic Douglas Park often, 1401 S. Sacramento Dr. He said he couldn't remember a time when the park hosted something like this, and he wondered aloud about logistics like what sections would be fenced off.
He said it will be interesting to see Riot Fest's crowd descend on the community, which does not see many of the city's tourists.
"It'll be an experience for both [communities]," Davis said. "We'll welcome them to the West Side."
Others at the park knew vaguely of the fest, which has historically favored punk acts, but weren't up on the specifics of the event.
"Oh, that's what they're setting up for," said an assistant at a nearby daycare who didn't give his name. He was at the park with some of the daycare kids. "It shouldn't affect us. We don't come here every day and school starts next week."
One man did remark that fest goers will likely hear a lot of sirens whizzing by, either to the Level 1 trauma center at nearby Mount Sinai Hospital or to St. Anthony's Hospital.
Executives at Mount Sinai were scheduled to have a meeting Friday afternoon to help prepare for the fest weekend, which begins Sept. 11. The hospital has already met with community leaders, police and the city's office of emergency management about the fest, said Diane Hunter, Mount Sinai spokeswoman.
Hunter said Riot Fest will have its own health care operation, including ambulances on standby. If patients need to be taken to a hospital, the ambulances likely will not take them to Mount Sinai, which is one of only four Level 1 trauma centers in Chicago (which typically handle incoming gunshot wound victims).
Also, the hospital is making sure patients, emergency response and health care providers can navigate the area once street closures go into effect, Hunter said.
"We're doing a lot of communicating with patients and care-givers," she said.
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