DOWNTOWN — A controversial policy banning unaccompanied minors from two Downtown parks on weekend evenings remains in effect this summer.
The city’s “youth escort policy” at Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park requires kids younger than 18 to be with someone 21 or older to enter the park after 6 p.m. The rule is in place Thursday-Sunday, including during free special events.
The policy was enacted May 2022 by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot after a 16-year-old was shot and killed near the Bean sculpture.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has said the policy doesn’t align with his vision for Chicago. The Mayor’s Office declined to comment Monday when asked by Block Club whether the curfew would be repealed this summer, despite park advocates calling on Johnson to do so.
Here’s what you need to know about the rules.
What Is The Millennium and Maggie Daley Park Curfew?
The policy, created by Lightfoot in an attempt to prevent Downtown violence, bans youth younger than 18 from Millennium and Maggie Daley Parks after 6 p.m. if they are not with an adult 21 or older.
Who Can Use The Parks?
Adults 21 and older can use the park 6 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. People younger than that must be accompanied by a “responsible” adult who is 21 or older if they are entering the park after 6 p.m.
Each adult can accompany no more than four minors at a time.
What Security Steps Have Been Added?
People entering the park must go through security checkpoints, including a bag check and a metal detector.
When Is The Millennium Park Curfew In Effect?
The Millennium Park curfew is in effect after 6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday.
Local leaders can enforce the curfew at any time on an “as-needed basis” when “circumstances demonstrating a substantial likeliness of large gatherings of unsupervised youth,” according to the rules.
The park plans to implement the policy “during all public events,” a Millennium Park spokesperson said. This includes the 2024 Millennium Park Summer Season, which offers dozens of free admission concerts, movie screenings, dance performances and special events — many of which start after 6 p.m.
What Is The Citywide Curfew?
The Millennium Park curfew follows the enactment in 2022 of a 10 p.m. citywide curfew for anyone younger than 18.
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