Organizers of the Chicago-Du Page Triathlon said they will move the location of the race’s swimming event rather than lose nearly $33,000 in village funds.
After meeting resistance from Du Page County Forest Preserve officials over holding the swim portion of the race at Silver Lake in Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville, race director Richard Staback said the swim site will be moved to a pond at the Esplanade office complex on Butterfield Road.
Without a definite site for the swim portion of the race, Downers Grove officials said they would not agree to allocate $33,000 in village hotel/motel tax funds to promote the event.
The Aug. 1 race includes a half-mile swim, a 12.4-mile bike race and a 3.1-mile foot race.
Although Staback said that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency had cleared Silver Lake for swimming and that some forest preserve officials had agreed informally to grant permission to hold the swim race there, others-including district director H.C. “Chuck” Johnson-vowed to uphold the swimming ban at the lake.