Officials: Wicker Park Chess Area Promotes Under-the-Table Transactions

Rose Lynch spends her afternoons sitting with her friend, Betty, around one of Wicker Park's chess tables.

"We ain't got nowhere else to go," the 65-year-old said Tuesday after a Wicker Park Advisory Council meeting in the nearby field house. "We go there to play cards, drink coffee and have fun."

The four built-in chess tables on the park's corner near Damen Avenue and Schiller Street have been at the heart of an ongoing discussion about drug sales and other illegal activity.

Members of the advisory council—a volunteer group—recently voted in favor of removing the tables; possibly to relocate them to other areas in the park and possibly, to get rid of them for good. But proponents of keeping them, including 1st Ward Ald. Proco Joe Moreno, favored a community meeting instead—at least for now. That meeting was held Tuesday night.

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Officials say drug dealers complete their transactions beneath the tables, primarily during the summer months. But some park patrons, like Rose and Betty, make legal use of the them. 

"I'm not that tied, personally, to the chess tables," Moreno said at Tuesday's meeting. "What I am tied to is … some sitting area that maybe we can move a little bit to open up so people can still sit and gather and do things to enjoy the park."

The council's president, Tim Kolecke, entertained the idea of having tables farther inside the park's boundaries, rather than on the border.

"The tables represent a choking point at one of the two most heavily traveled entrances to the park," Kolecke said. "We want to bring people into the park."

READ: Officials: Beefed Up Security May Deter Vandals in Wicker Park

Rob Rejman, director of planning construction and facility management for the Chicago Park District, said he doesn't think the tables are the problem.

"I deal with a lot of parks all the time with similar issues," he said. "I've seen the activity that you've described in the areas that you've described. From my perspective … if you move the chess tables the activity follows the chess tables. if you leave the table where it is at least you know where the activity is happening. Moving things around physically … may not have a predictable response."

Officials, volunteers and residents all kicked ideas around at the meeting. Francis Valadez, commander for the Chicago Police Department's 14th District, was on hand to answer questions. Among the most-discussed potential fixes was a verbal offer from Moreno saying he'd spring for an additional camera in the park that could be monitored from inside the building. 

Some questioned the value of such a camera after the park's field house closes—when much of the illegal activity goes down—leading to discussions about remotely accessing security footage.

Other propositions included replacing chess tables with those of a specific design that would prevent sleeping bums and under-the-table transactions. The possibility of extending current security guard use through the summer was also mentioned.

No matter the solution, something must be done. At least that's what resident and former Wicker Park Advisory Council member Susan Fontana says.

She lives directly across from the "drug dealing hotspot" and sees the activity daily.

"It was quite rampant last year," she said. "It's not the chess tables. It's about the behavior and the conduct that's been going on. It's been escalating over the years and now it's gotten to this point."

Officials vowed to continue collaborating to make park safety a priority.

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