The Parkways Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Chicago Park District, will close, the organization said Thursday.
A new agreement brokered earlier this month between the Park District and organizers of the Lollapalooza music festival is not behind the 18-year-old organization’s decision to shutter, said Diane Sprenger, the foundation board chairwoman.
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“In reality the Lollapalooza dollars were part of what helped the organization give back to the Chicago parks, but it wasn’t our only funding source,” Sprenger said. “We felt that with some of the new funding channels being forged under the new city leadership, we realized we will no longer have the same level of impact we’ve had in the past years.”
The foundation has been considering whether to close since the beginning of the year, according to Sprenger. The board has shed about 10 members since 2010 and its executive director departed in December. “They left for a variety of reasons,” she said.
Sprenger declined to provide a specific closing date.
The new deal between Lollapalooza organizer C3 Presents and the Park District omits the Parkways Foundation, which previously had received about 45 percent of its annual revenue from the music festival.
The deal requires Lollapalooza organizers to pay, for the first time, annual city and county amusement taxes, and state liquor taxes. Previously, Austin, Texas-based C3 made annual contributions to the Parkways Foundation amounting to 10.5 percent of gross revenue and 8.5 percent of sponsorship revenue in lieu of paying the taxes.
Since its creation in 1994, the foundation has raised $30 million for Chicago parks programs and projects, including summer camps, tree plantings and park renovations and improvements.
The foundation will continue to accept charitable donations on the parks’ behalf until it closes, according to Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner.
Eventually a new foundation will accept donations for Chicago parks, although one has yet to be named, she added.
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