PHOTOS: Stanley Cup Finals
PHOTOS: Blackhawks, Chicago celebrate Stanley Cup 2013
The City of Chicago announced Tuesday afternoon that the celebration of the 2013 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 28 with a rally in Hutchinson Field in Grant Park following the parade. The parade is set to step off at 10:30 a.m. from the intersection of Washington and Desplaines.
The City of Chicago and Chicago Blackhawks will provide details at a press conference on Thursday. City officials are already encouraging fans to take public transportation, refrain from bringing restricted items such as alcohol and backpacks and take precautions regarding warm weather conditions.
Blackhawks fans recall 2010 Stanley Cup parade
It's an indelible image from an unforgettable day in 2010: a sea of red filling the streets, basking in Stanley Cup glory.
"You couldn't even see the street. So I can imagine, it was blocks and blocks and blocks of people," said Carla Carter, Blackhawks fan.
Carla Carter and her seven-year-old son Joshua were among the estimated two million fans who turned out for the parade in 2010.
On Tuesday, Mayor Emanuel said details about this Friday's celebration are still being worked out.
"We're going to do it in a respectful way that respects the Blackhawks and their championship. We'll be providing the capacity and security to do that," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The celebration three years ago began at the United Center, the parade winding through downtown before ending with a rally at the corner of Wacker and Michigan.
Though fans were in a good mood, the oppressive heat and giant crowd made the event memorable in other ways.
"It was more than shoulder-to-shoulder. You couldn't move. There were people carrying cups of urine through the crowd because they couldn't get to a bathroom," said Mike Dalton, Blackhawks fan.
ABC7 public safety expert Jody Weis was Chicago Police superintendent at the time of that rally, and says he preferred a larger venue like Grant Park, where President Obama's election night celebration had been held a year and a half earlier.
"Unfortunately we lost that argument, and I think the optics and the image of Chicago won out," said Weis.
The 2010 event was largely peaceful and injury-free, despite fans swarming the players' bus.
Weis says this time around, officials would be wise to consider Grant Park.
"It isn't so much we have to maintain control. We have to be able to respond to the crowd and issue any kind of first aid that may come about through a myriad of issues that might develop," Weis said.
Further details, such as the parade route and location, will be announced later Tuesday, according to the release.
