Good news: Cantigny is about to have a lot more parking capacity. The south lot, to your right as you enter the park from Winfield Road, will soon offer 350 additional spaces. This represents a 30% increase in total parking spaces at the park.

Additional parking is yet another key element of Project New Leaf’s Phase One, which is wrapping up this fall. We know from listening to our visitors that ample parking ranks highly as a guest amenity—right up there with park benches and bathrooms!

During major events, Cantigny parking lots occasionally “max out.” When that happens, the Visitor Services department goes to Plan B, which often means parking on the grass near the red bandshell. The former polo field holds about 250 cars. On rare occasions we’ve even used the Parade Field for overflow vehicles.

If the ground is wet, however, Plan B is not an option. We must then redirect incoming traffic to offsite parking, where guests board free shuttle buses back to Cantigny.

Fortunately, our parking shortage is almost over; the expanded south lot is expected to open just before Labor Day. Cantigny will then have 1,500 surface parking spaces with new lighting—enough to handle arriving cars for nearly every Cantigny concert, festival or special event.

Thanks for your patience these last few months when parking conditions at Cantigny were sometimes inconvenient. We’re confident that you will like the parking improvements made possible by Project New Leaf.

This view shows the expanded south parking lot, opening soon. Cantigny Golf is in the foreground. The Visitors Center and new gardens are visible in the top right corner.

Ground-level view of the south parking lot, looking north.

Posted by Jeff Reiter

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