Chicago hospital drops lawsuit against music fest

St. Anthony Hospital, located on Chicago’s West Side, agreed Tuesday to drop its lawsuit and motion for a federal judge to block Riot Fest, a three-day concert festival, from taking place in neighboring Douglas Park this weekend, according to the Chicago Tribune.

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The two parties reached a settlement after a weekend of mounting accusations. St. Anthony Hospital had filed the lawsuit Sept. 4, alleging Riot Fest’s “extreme” noise and congestion surrounding the park would be harmful to patients. In response, Riot Fest organizers said the hospital had threatened to sue unless it was paid $158,000, leading St. Anthony Hospital’s spokeswoman to call the organizers liars.

The settlement was announced in federal court Tuesday afternoon. In a joint news release, both parties said their previous “misunderstandings” had been resolved in a meeting earlier that day with police and city officials.

“Unfortunately, passions ran high on both sides and motivations were questioned,” the statement said, according to the report. “Both sides regret their aggressive statements. Saint Anthony Hospital acknowledges that Riot Fest was not lying and Riot Fest acknowledges that Saint Anthony Hospital was not motivated by financial gain.”

Riot Fest agreed to restore parking in front of the hospital, erect pedestrian barricades and install sound monitoring within the hospital to protect patients, according to the report. Additionally, there will be continual monitoring of traffic flow. If pedestrian and vehicular congestion make it difficult for emergency vehicles to get to the hospital, traffic access will be closed.

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