Grayslake cancels big bike show
Gangs and security a concern
GRAYSLAKE -- The Lake County Fairgrounds were relatively quiet Sunday morning, with only a classic car show drawing a small crowd to the east side of the property.
But on the south side, a plywood sign posted outside a locked gate featured a message scrawled in orange spray paint: BIKE SHOW CANCELED. At another entrance, two Lake County Sheriff's Police SUV's stood sentry to inform visitors of the same news.
(Sarah Nader/Staff Photographer)
That was the scene two days after Friday afternoon's cancelation of the Ironhorse Roundup Bike Show, an event sponsored by Austin's Saloon and Eatery in Libertyville that organizers say would have drawn thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts and rock fans to Grayslake.
Village officials reported Sunday that they made the decision to withdraw the event's permit after both a regional gang task force and officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advised that two rival motorcycle gangs planned to attend.
"They reported to us that there was a high potential for some members of these gangs to be on the road to this event to finish some unfinished business between them," Grayslake Mayor Tim Perry said Sunday afternoon. "We made the decision to pull the plug."
Perry acknowledged that the original announcement, released between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, didn't offer those specifics -- it stated only that there were "circumstances which threaten the health and safety of those attending the event."
"We took some heat for being vague about it, but we needed to be able to vet it with our legal team and all the agencies involved before we could get into specifics," said Perry, adding that "it all came to a head very quickly" as Friday afternoon wound down.
Austin's owner Mark Khayat, who said he met three different times with village officials before Friday to arrange everything from insurance to security, was critical of both the late decision to cancel and the lack of information provided at the time.
"I didn't find out until about 4:35 p.m. when the (Lake County) Fair Association called me," Khayat said. "We went right over to the village to find out what happened, and it was like everyone had scattered ... We finally got to talk to the police chief, and all he could do was read us the press release.
"I said, 'Chief, you've got to consider what this is going to cost everyone,'" added Khayat, saying hotel rooms had already been booked, vendors were arriving in town and rock singer Vince Neil had been flown in.
But the decision was made, and emotions started to run high. The sponsoring radio station, WIIL-95 FM, opened up the phone lines to discuss the situation for three hours Friday night and again on Saturday morning.
"We suspended our (rock) format just to talk about this. People were passionate about it," said nighttime on-air personality Don Wilson, adding that the last time the station put music on hold was 9/11.
"To me, this was government at its worst," said morning host Tom Kief, who attempted to get Perry on the air early Saturday to "give us a reasonable explanation" about the cancelation. "It was done in the dark and at the 11th hour, without explanation."
Perry said he received "quite a few voice mails and e-mails" from people upset about the decision, but he maintained that officials were acting in the best interests of both the village and "the good people who ride motorcycles and enjoy a day out like this."
"I'll take the heat because it was my decision in the end," Perry said. "But if you can't guarantee that (the event will be safe) with certainty, it's an easy call to make ... At the same time, it was very difficult to come to, because we fully understand the business impact this was going to have."
In the end, Austin's went ahead with a scaled-back Ironhorse, with Neil and opening act Uncle Sam re-scheduled to play Sunday afternoon in the saloon's Fuel Room, which accommodates around 800 people. But Khayat said he and his vendors would likely be out thousands of dollars due to the smaller turnout.
"This has really kind of knocked the air out of me," he said. "I'm still trying to get my arms around this."
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