Downtown Holiday Event Goes Through a lot of GIngerbread

Shhhhhh…opping Highland Park packed the city with residents and shoppers who built over 1,500 gingerbread houses, including 1,000 in 90 minutes on Friday.

There was a lot of gingerbread house building in downtown Highland Park last weekend. Shhhhhh…opping Highland Park packed the city with residents who built over 1,500 gingerbread houses, including 1,000 in 90 minutes on Friday. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering attended along with City Manager Dave Knapp, Downtown Highland Park Alliance Director Jessica Weglarz, District 113 Superintendent George Fornero and Highland Park High School principal Brad Swanson (as well as CBS news crews). Highalnd Park High School Madrigal Singers performed as well.  Check out photos from the event above. For more news and updates, "like" us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

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Downtown Highland Park Alliance Celebrates Fashion Week

Fashion, Fitness and Beauty were the talk of the town last week as the Downtown Highland Park Alliance presented Fashion Week Highland Park.

The information below and pictures above come from the Downtown Highland Park Alliance. Fashion, Fitness and Beauty were the talk of the town recently as the Downtown Highland Park Alliance presented Fashion Week Highland Park. Held from Thursday, September 6 to Saturday, September 8 in Highland Park’s Port Clinton Square, this three-day event offered residents of the North Shore an opportunity to experience Downtown Highland Park and all of the wonderful shops, services and restaurants it has to offer while also finding inspirations for fashion, beauty, fitness and party planning.   More than 50 area businesses participated in Fashion Week Highland Park, highlighting the hottest trends in fitness, beauty, fashion and special events. …

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Wonderful Wednesdays Continue Through August

Head to Port Clinton Square in August for musical performances by Ken Arlen’s Front of House and Ronnie Rice, presented by the Downtown Highland Park Alliance.

Downtown Highland Park Alliance Gets New Director

Peoria-native Jessica Weglarz will work with downtown business owners to help the city's economic development.

Have You Experienced A Wonderful Wednesday?

Bring a chair, a blanket and some popcorn to Port Clinton Square at dusk tonight and catch an outdoor movie screening of "A League of Their Own."

Now that the temperature has dropped and going outside doesn't sound like the worst idea in the world, it's not a bad idea to take advantage of a nifty weekly event the Downtown Highland Park Alliance is offering on Wednesdays in Port Clinton Square: outdoor movie screenings. On Wednesday at dusk (around 8:30 p.m.), the Alliance will show "A League of Their Own," projected on a large screen. The event is the second in a Wonderful Wednesdays series that began June 27 with a screening of "The Blind Side." It continues next Wednesday with Martin Scoresese's 3D hit, "Hugo." "We chose films and music that would appeal to both young and mature residents while also creating an ideal way to spend summer nights in Downtown Highland Park,” said …

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Viewfinder

New Skating Rink Opens in Port Clinton Square

Downtown has a new skating rink, but it's not ice.

The Downtown Highland Park Alliance opened its new outdoor ice skating rink last week at Port Clinton Square. Approximately 50-foot-square, it's made of a synthetic surface called “Xtraice”, and allows skaters to do everything they would do on ice. Unlike traditional synthetic surfaces, it isn't weather dependent and doesn’t make skaters stick or slide when skating and offers the best gliding performance. Public skating will be open Monday through Thursday 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday 3:15 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Daytime skating hours may be extended when schools let out for winter break. There's even a warming house tucked in Port Clinton Square. Admission price is $2 and skate rental is $…

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David Greenberg

8:32 pm on Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Thanks Lane, I appreciate the insight. If I recall correctly, last year the City wanted to keep the lights off during the day, and turn them on at night. The Alliance balked about that, and ponied up some money to keep them on for an extended time. I'm not sure if that's the case this year as well. But when it comes around, I'll be most interested to see the ROI calculations... Happy holidays …   more ›

Highlands and Ravines

Coffee, Cupcakes and Ice Cream (Oh My!)

Is downtown Highland Park getting too sweet for its own good?

There can be too much of a good thing. A decade ago, downtown Highland Park was invaded by banks. Lots of banks. Different banks. Clicks-and-mortar banks. Private banks. So many banks, the City Council considered ways to keep out yet more banks, and eventually zoned the downtown a "Pedestrian Oriented Shopping Overlay" (POSO) in 2004. Smart move, as many of those banks have merged, consolidated, folded or retreated due to over-development. A few years ago, Highland Park residents fretted over empty downtown storefronts. How was it that the corner of Second and Central, home to a Gap for many years and Chestnut Court books before that, had stood vacant for so long? What about the one-time-Gsell's at St. Johns and Central? In the last few …

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Shop 'Tax Free' in Highland Park

23 retail stores in city offer sales tax equivalent discounts through the weekend.

In the spirit of tax season, 23 retail shops in Highland Park are offering a special discount through this weekend--8 percent off. Or, as the Downtown Highland Park Alliance is putting it: "Tax free." Stores including Uncle Dan's, Posh Essentials and Blue Rose Gallery are offering a discount equivalent to the Lake County sales tax from Thursday-Saturday. "With tax season coming up, we thought it'd be a good hook to offer," said Bridget Kagan, the alliance's marketing and communications coordinator.  Other participating stores include Avant for Men, E Street, My Best Friend's Clost and Olga's Day Spa. "Merchants all seemed very open to it," Kagan said. "It's not too big of a discount, but it's nice for customers that take advantage of it…

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Patch Picks: Valentine's Day Specials

Highland Park merchants have some stellar deals throughout February.

Merchants all over Highland Park are offering discounts and deals to celebrate Valentine's Day. Here are 10 of the over 20 events and promotions taking place throughout the month.

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Libertyville Resident Wins $900 in Gift Cards to Highland Park Stores

Carol Betlinkski is the winner of the Downtown Alliance's first shopping contest.

Libertyville resident Carol Betlinkski won the first Downtown Highland Park Alliance-sponsored Holiday Shopping Spree Contest. From Nov. 24 to Dec. 24, shoppers in Highland Park could register for gifts at 28 participating retailers as part of the Downtown Highland Park Alliance Holiday Gift Registry. Similar to a wedding registry, this registry focused on presents one wished to receive over the holidays. Over 415 people entered the shopping spree contest, for a total of 500 entries. Shoppers could register at each of the 28 participating stores to increase their chances of winning.  On Dec. 9, Betlinkski drove down from Libertyville to do her holiday shopping in Highland Park during the Holiday Shopping Night event. Betlinkski visited …

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