State law may ban Nik Wallenda's plan to walk Windy City tightrope
The two Marina City highrises, adjacent to the Chicago River. Lissandra Melo / Shutterstock.com
An announced plan by Nik Wallenda to walk a tightrope between two Windy City high-rises, 600 feet above the Chicago River, may have hit a legal roadblock.
Although city officials supported the idea, Illinois lawmakers previously nixed the concept. A state law says it is a misdemeanor for an individual to perform such an act 20 feet or more above the ground without safety equipment, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The Aerial Exhibitors Safety Act bans a performance “which requires skill, timing or balance and which creates a substantial risk to himself or others of serious injury by a fall” at this height unless “unless a safety net or other safety device of similar purpose and construction is placed between such person and the ground.”
There’s no word yet as to how organizers will accord Wallenda’s planned Nov. 2 performance, which is supposed to be televised live in 220 countries by the Discovery Channel, with the state law.
Wallenda crossed the Grand Canyon on a tightrope in 2013, the first person ever to do so. The broadcast got record viewership for a Discovery Channel live event, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The network expects to use dozens of cameras, both stationary and on helicopters, for the upcoming Skyscraper Live With Nik Wallenda. Starting his walk between the two Marina City high-rises, he is to walk the tightrope more than two city blocks across the Chicago River to the Leo Burnett Building.
See also:
CBS News / Associated Press: “The rich, tragic history of daredevil Wallendas”
