Construction starts on Obama’s ‘victory stage’

ELECTION Day is less than two weeks away, and Chicago could be home to the biggest political party in the country.

Construction is under way for a massive stage in Grant Park where Barack Obama could declare victory on election night.

Tens of thousands are expected to gather before the stage on election night and the event would require massive security, but the Obama campaign promises that Chicago taxpayers will not have to foot the bill for police, fire and medical services that will be required.

November 5, 1996, was actually the last election night when both major party candidates spoke publicly. In the close elections of 2000 and 2004, that did not happen. But this year that may change, and preparations to accommodate a big crowd in Grant Park are already underway.

A lot of work remains on platforms for speakers, risers for cameras and security barricades. Early yesterday, construction crews at the south end of Grant Park were assembling what they said would hold a giant video screen for the election night gathering.

Chicago’s mass transit system is one key to moving massive numbers in and out of the lakefront park. What may have been the largest crowd in the city’s history — at least 350,000 — gathered in the park to watch Pope John Paul II celebrate mass in October 1979.

Deputies to Mayor Richard M Daley have been planning for the potentially huge event for more than a month.

“That’s what we’re talking about... it’s all about safety,” Mayor Daley said.