North Cook News

The Village of Northbrook recently reviewed the 2022 Northbrook Grand Prix and discussed what the event could look like in 2023.

Madleine Farrell, the deputy Village manager, presented the costs and feedback from the 2022 event to the Northbrook Board of Trustees at the Nov. 8 board meeting. The 2022 event was held downtown on July 28 and races took place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with "novice," "professional" and "family fun" categories. The event had just under 100 participants and utilized village parking. To accommodate the festivities, several roads had to be closed down, which affected businesses and required that residences be notified multiple times.

"So I think getting the word out to both the local and regional audience, volunteers, you know, working with the chamber, working with the convention bureau, considering expanding activities in the park around the racecourse, you know, as they may see fit," Farrell said at the meeting. "I know there are a lot of other communities who do this and sort of make it a little bit of a bigger event."

Expenses for the event totaled $83,580 and included $15,000 for police staffing, $3,000 for fire department staffing, $19,500 for public works staffing, and $45,700 for road repairs to the racetrack. Farrell noted that much of the public works costs were because some members had to do overnight shifts due to multiple back-to-back events downtown.

Proposed changes for the 2023 event based on feedback from businesses and event organizers included new members of the local organizing committee. The tentative date for the 2023 event is Thursday, July 27, 2023. The Village was also asked to hold a formal contract with Intelligencia for the event and a less formal set of expectations for the local committee instead of the committee holding the formal contract.