Madison began final preparations in sealing off its borders for this weekend's Halloween festivities. National Guard troops were stationed at all of the city's entrance points as Mayor Dave Cieslewicz essentially dared out-of-towners to try to breach the city's defenses to attend the annual State Street Halloween celebration.
These measures are the latest in a series of sweeping moves to prevent the chaotic scenes that have plagued recent Halloween celebrations, largely the result of non-Madisonian meddling.
'Madison, in cooperation with UW-Madison and the state National Guard, will not be allowing anyone who is not a resident of this fair city into the city limits for the duration of the holiday weekend,' Cieslewicz said. He added, 'We apologize for any inconvenience.'
While troops from across the state will be sent to Madison to patrol the city's multiple paved entry points , officials acknowledge it will be nearly impossible for them to prevent visitors from trying to get into the city by other means. This is why the Army Corps of Engineers was called in to construct a stone wall that has encircled the city. Construction began in November 2004, shortly after yet another year of rioting during the Halloween weekend.
At a glance, the 'Great Wall' is exactly 213 miles long and follows along the city limits of Madison. The wall itself is 100 feet wide and 25 feet tall with lookout posts constructed every half mile. If that is not enough of a deterrent, a 10-foot deep moat filled with man-eating crocodiles was dug to follow the path of the wall.
'We take the safety of Madison very seriously and we're not going to have any trouble this year from foreign elements,' said Madison Police Chief Noble Wray.
Critics have called Madison's security measures 'heavy handed' and 'over-the-top,' but university officials maintain these actions are necessary because out-of-town elements have been the source of trouble and not its own students.
'Statistics from the city have shown that only 59 of 450 arrests were due to our students,' Chancellor John Wiley said. 'Twenty-seven percent of arrests came from Minnesota. We're not even talking about the number of arrests from other states like Illinois, Iowa or Alaska.'
Despite the visitor prevention methods taken up by the city, many Halloween party veterans insist that they will still try to get down to State Street.
'I've been to Halloween in Madison for the last four years,' Minnesota senior Carl Levit said. 'I've been tear gassed, cut with a broken bottle, stepped on by a police horse and arrested twice. Some silly moat and wall doesn't scare me.'
UW'La Crosse sophomore Justin Parker said he agreed. 'Rioting on State Street on Halloween is a tradition. It's bogus that cops think they can stop it by posting heavily guarded troops on the highway and closing the dorms to visitors. We always find a way to riot. It's our right.'
Mayor Cieslewicz said that in the end Madison will take back the city from the visitors bent on ruining what used to be a drunk, but calm celebration.
'If anyone from out-of-town gets into the city and we catch them, I will personally beat the living crap out of them. Bring it. I dare you. Bring. It. On.'
