By Susan Stevens Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted on October 13, 2000
Long before tonight's kick-off, a struggle of a different sort will be waged on the streets in the heart of Naperville.
Thousands of fans heading to North Central College's Cardinal Stadium for the Naperville North-Naperville Central football game will need places to park.
Luckily, they've got a lot of options.
Both high schools will run shuttle buses between their campuses and North Central. All of the city lots will be open, and some space will be available in the lots near the college's Merner Fieldhouse.
"Heck, if you park at Naperville Central, you could walk here in 10 minutes," NCC Sports Information Director Kevin Juday said. "It's up the street from us."
The college asked students planning to go out Friday night to move their cars out of the campus lots by the stadium early in the day, simply to avoid the congestion around game time.
On-street parking near the college will be limited, Naperville police Sgt. James Bedell said.
"We're implementing the same plan we had for the NCAA championships and other large college events," he said.
Parking on streets near North Central will be restricted to one side to ensure emergency vehicles can reach neighborhoods, Bedell said. Motorists should obey posted signs; illegally parked cars will be towed.
City lots at the municipal center, near Nichols Library and on Van Buren Avenue will be open, as well as the municipal parking garage east of Washington Street.
The gates to Cardinal Stadium will open at 4:15 p.m., one hour before the sophomore teams play. The varsity game is at 7:30 p.m.
Naperville North and Naperville Central will each have three shuttle buses picking up fans near the auditorium entrance at each school. Shuttles will run from 4:30 to 7 p.m., and continuously after the game.
Organizers expect the biggest crowd in the game's history. If 10,000 fans attend the game, Bedell estimates they'll bring 3,000 cars, the same number that goes through downtown Naperville every day.
"It's going to cause a little congestion," he said. "If you're not going to the game, I wouldn't drive down there. Why put yourself through the misery."