Troubled DarienFest Likely To Be Canceled

DARIEN, IL — The group that organizes DarienFest has been in a dispute with the local park district about where to hold this year's event. Now, the group says it will likely cancel the fest because of the coronavirus.

Over the last month, the Darien Chamber of Commerce, which organizes DarienFest, and the Darien Park District have exchanged sharp words for each other. The district has said it needed the chamber to reimburse for $6,000 in damage to a trail at last year's fest. The chamber, however, argued the district should file a claim through its insurance company, even though the chamber took out the liability policy for the event.

On Tuesday, the chamber's insurance company agreed to pay the claim, but the district doesn't know how long it will take to get the money, Gurgone said.

In a lengthy email to Patch last week, April Padalik, the chamber's executive director, questioned the park district's intentions. She said the insurance company was never allowed to inspect the "alleged" damage to validate the claim because the district fixed it before an assessment could be made. She said the district tapped into taxpayers' money to retain a lawyer to deal with the issue when the district could have followed normal procedures to file a claim.

In an email to Patch, Stephanie Gurgone, the district's executive director, disagreed, saying the district provided numerous opportunities over four weeks to inspect the damage.

"For the chamber to state that they had no opportunity to inspect the damage is completely false," she said in an email to Patch.

Gurgone also took issue with the idea that the district could have simply filed a claim with its insurer.

"The district is required to carefully protect the assets of the taxpayers, and does this by having secure license agreements in place, including the one with the chamber," Gurgone said. "The responsibility to pay any property damage falls directly and solely onto the chamber."

Padalik said the insurance claim had nothing to do with the district's decision on DarienFest. Last fall, the district informed the chamber it wanted to beautify Community Park, so the chamber would be unable to use it, Padalik said. The chamber was offered the Sportsplex as an alternative, but the chamber determined the property was insufficient to hold the event, Padalik said.

"The chamber never thought that the small insurance claim, for which the chamber was entirely covered, would become dirty laundry," Padalik said. "We hope and pray we can now focus on the events of the day, and put this simple insurance claim behind us."

Gurgone confirmed the park district had spent a lot of money improving the park the last few years. Plans exist to continue upgrades at the park, she said, which will result in further restrictions on usage to preserve it.

"However, to be clear, the Darien chamber was not told that Darien Community Park would not be allowed to be used this year, but was told that if the Board did approve the use, further restrictions would continue to be placed to protect the investment that has been made in the property," Gurgone said.

The DarienFest dispute surfaced publicly in early March when Mayor Joseph Marchese told the City Council he hoped to help the two parties reach an agreement. He said the chamber had struggled to find a new site for the fest.

Padalik doubted DarienFest would be held this year.

"Given the current state of affairs in dealing with the onset of coronavirus, we are likely to not hold a Darienfest for the protection of the community," Padalik said.

The next park board meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 13, depending on the status of the governor's stay-at-home order. Based on Padalik's expectation that the fest will not be held this year, Gurgone said, the board will probably not vote on the DarienFest issue at its meeting. She noted festivals in Downers Grove and Lisle have already been canceled.

"At this point, we do not know how long the group gathering restrictions will last as well, which clearly could affect all summer events," Gurgone said.

Last year's DarienFest included a carnival, a car show and music. It has been held for 32 years.