Rather than boarding up, some businesses are trying to protect themselves by having a plastic security film installed on their windows. If the glass is broken, the protective film holds the glass together, just like the laminated glass on most car windshields. That will prevent the shards from scattering and hurting people, as well as make it more difficult to break into the business.
"The nice part about the window film is, it is invisible protection. Instead of using boards to board up Chicago, the businesses can stay open and have their display windows wide open and still make sales," said Jim Spizzirri, a senior sales representative for AAA Window Tint.
That company recently installed the film on a building in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, for example. The company says it got a lot of calls, especially when the G8 Summit was scheduled to be in Chicago, along with the NATO Summit.
The location for the G8 Summit was moved to Camp David weeks ago.
