Ryder Cup To Bring Economic Boost To Medinah, Vacation Week For Lake Park H.S.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's big week for golf fans around Chicago.
The Ryder Cup--pitting the top U.S. pros against Europe's best--is being played at Medinah Country Club.
About 40,000 visitors a day are expected to turn out for the Ryder Cup, and the economic impact on the west and northwest suburbs--as well as other parts of Chicago--is estimated at around $130 million.
Hotels are expected to take in a lot of that income, but other venues will get a boost.
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Lake Park High School in nearby Roselle also is closed this week, but it's making money for its athletic facilities by renting out parking lots for a shuttle bus staging area. The East campus is located across the street from Medinah, and the school board decided to close the school for safety and traffic reasons.
"We really were worried about safely transporting our students, and our staff," said Lake Park High School District 108 Supt. Lynne Panega.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports, although they have the week off school, almost 200 students at Lake Park will serve as volunteers during the Ryder Cup, including the entire varsity football team. School classrooms will be used to train volunteers.
"It's pretty exciting that everyone's coming here ... people around the world are coming," said one football player.
The school is expected to make about $415,000 for use of their facilities. The money will be used to install artificial turf at the school's football field.
"With the fact that we're able to put this in, we're also able to offer it to park districts to use, and ... baseball tryouts, softball tryouts, girls and boys soccer can come over here, so it's gonna be a big deal for us," football coach Chris Roll said.
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DuPage Airport in West Chicago will be busy, too, with corporate charter jets flying in for the event.
Players begin practice at Medinah on Tuesday. The first tee time is Friday at 7:20 a.m.
