Netflix Filming, St. Patrick's Parade Impact Parking, Traffic

ST. CHARLES, IL — The filming of a Netflix series that is being shot at Hotel Baker this week will cause local drivers to made adjustments to their route and parking routines later this week, the city announced.

Actor Michael Fassbender and a crew will be in St. Charles later this week to continue the filming of the Netflix thriller “The Killer”, which is using the Hotel Baker as an on-location scene for the upcoming series. The series is being directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, 7 and Zodiac). A release date has not yet been announced.

Local officials announced Hotel Baker would be used for filming earlier this year.

City officials said that the filming schedule will make traffic patterns and parking changes necessary starting on Thursday. Filming is expected to continue through March 8 but production crews were scheduled to start arriving on Monday, city officials announced.

The city put the following restrictions in place for the filming and for this weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, which will take place on Saturday.

• Thursday and Friday, Main Street between 5th Avenue and 3rd Street will be closed to all vehicular traffic starting at 5 p.m. and will not be reopened until 6 a.m. the following day, the city said.
• Police officers and members of the St. Charles Emergency Management Agency will be onsite to assist motorists around the detour each night.
• Drivers are encouraged to avoid downtown and use alternate routes and bridges to cross the river unless specifically visiting downtown.

City officials said that downtown restaurants will be open for business during the filming.

The following parking restrictions will be in place at various times over the course of the filming:

• All on-street parking is prohibited on Main Street (both the north and south side) between the Main Street Bridge and 4th Avenue beginning Thursday, until the end of the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday.
• All on-street parking on Riverside Avenue between State Avenue and Walnut Avenue is prohibited on Thursday and Friday. These spaces will reopen Saturday, March 12 at 6 a.m.
• The City’s south parking lot at the Municipal Center (“Checkerboard Lot”) will be closed Thursday at 5 a.m. and will reopen after the parade on Saturday.
• The City “Lot E,” located at the southeast corner of Routes 64 and 31, will be closed Thursday at 5 a.m. and will reopen Saturday at 6 a.m.
• Parking along the Main St. Bridge will reopen Monday, March 14, and Tuesday, March 15, but will close again from March 16 until March 18. All other parking spaces on Main Street will remain open.
• Beginning Monday, March 7 and continuing through Friday, March 18, the site of the former Police Department, City lot “P”, as well as the 5th level of the west side parking deck will be closed to parking for the duration of the film crew being present in St. Charles.

The city also announced the following restrictions for Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

• A full closure of Main Street between 5th Avenue and 7th Street beginning at 1:45 p.m.
• Police, EMA, and crossing guards will be along the parade and detour routes to ensure safe traffic flow and parade experience.
• The detour route will guide motorists traveling along Main Street from the east to go either north to the Red Gate Bridge across the river or south to Illinois Avenue, west to South 7th Street, and back north to Main Street.
• The detour route for vehicles traveling from the west on Main Street to the east will follow the reverse flow. Those wishing to travel north from the west side of the river will follow the detour north on 7th Street to State Street, then east to Route 31
• During the parade, no one will be allowed to park along Main Street.