Local officials would like to see an end to "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day," but in the meantime, they are warning those planning to take part in this week's two-day beerfest that there will be consequences to misbehavior.

"Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" was developed about a dozen years ago to promote sales at campus taverns because the actual St. Patrick's Day came when University of Illinois students were away for spring break.

Traditionally, "Unofficial" is on the Friday before spring vacation. This year, a Facebook site promotes "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" as "the biggest party in the Big 10," calls it a "night of mayhem" and says it will last two days.

"The bars, houses, and streets will be overflowing with thousands of drunk college kids wearing green, having green tongues and so on," the Facebook page says. "Everybody knows how crazy it is. This year is going to blow the past years out of the water."

The page lists an e-mail that includes "cochraneparties" in the address and says Wingman Promotions, a Chicago entity that organizes parties, is the host.

Scott Cochrane, the bar owner widely credited with creating the idea, did not return calls and messages this week seeking comment.

Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart, who is also liquor commissioner for the city, said he thought about closing campus-area bars for a week, but this year's event has already been heavily promoted and large crowds of people from out of town are expected.

As he did last year, Schweighart imposed restrictions on liquor sales, and police agencies plan a heavy presence on campus.

"People had concerns that from all the people coming in, if they find the bars closed, they will take over the streets and riot in the streets," Schweighart said. "It could be more trouble to do that."

The mayor said if there are problems this year, he will let bar owners know they will be wasting their money to promote it next year because he will suspend the liquor licenses for a week.

"If you promote it, I will shut the bars down," he said. "We're done tolerating it. If you will schedule it, then we will close the bars."

Champaign, Urbana and UI police, along with campus leaders and city representatives, have been meeting to plan how to cope with the event this year, which is expected to run from the morning of Friday through Saturday. Without giving specifics, police said there will be more officers on the streets this year to control traffic, break up fights and halt other destructive or disorderly behavior often resulting from excess alcohol.

According to local police, overtime costs for Champaign, Urbana, UI and Illinois State Police last year were more than $18,000.

"To make it go away would be awesome, but that's not going to happen," UI interim Chief Jeff Christensen said. "It's just a shame that this event is growing."

By increments, "Unofficial" can be made less attractive to young people who just look at it as a traditional party, he said.

"If you participate, there are going to be consequences for actions that are disruptive or illegal," Christensen said.

However, any solution to "Unofficial" problems is going to require more than police enforcement, Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney said.

"We cannot arrest our way out of it," Finney said. "We can't have enough officers to address every problem."

Finney said it will take time for the community to eliminate problems that have grown over 12 years. In addition to aggressive law enforcement, it will take efforts throughout C-U and the campus to counteract the marketing that encourages drunken behavior, Finney said.

Finney, who was chief at the Carbondale Police Department before coming to Champaign, said most universities have similar events, where students annually gather mostly for drinking alcohol.

Carbondale and Champaign both previously had problems with Halloween celebrations, which resulted in widespread property damage.

"Carbondale's Halloween evolved into riots," Finney said. "The intent of the crowd was to do damage in a drunken bash."

Finney said "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" has seen some problems with property damage, as well as fights and aggravated battery. Most of the problems are typical for those who have had too much to drink, but the problems grow as the size of the crowd grows.

He said he and others are concerned that if the trend continues with "Unofficial," it could eventually include riots as with Carbondale.

Champaign police Lt. Brad Yohnka said the best way to shut down "Unofficial" would be to ban alcohol sales for that week. He said people would still come, but if they couldn't get in the bars, participation would probably decline.

UI junior Peter Logli, president of the UI Interfraternity Council, said "Unofficial" won't die easily because it has taken on a life beyond campus bars with parties in fraternities and apartments.

"If it was just alcohol, it wouldn't be a big event," Logli said. "It's the camaraderie that it brings, getting up early and socializing. It's not just the drinking."

He said closing the bars would result in "40,000 angry kids, with alcohol, looking for a place to take out their frustration."

Making it a mediocre event might be the only solution, he said.

Chancellor Richard Herman said, "This event endangers the safety of our students. Ninety students required medical treatments during and after last year's event. Two years ago, a recent alumna died in an accident directly related to 'Unofficial.' "

Caroline Yoon, a 22-year-old UI graduate who had come back to campus for the party in 2006, was killed when she fell off a motorcycle near Wright and Healey streets.

"We don't want the reason that we finally put a stop this to be a reaction to another death or several deaths," Herman said.

Last year, there were 180 arrests or citations – up from 103 the year before. But officials said there were fewer problems in 2007 with disruptions to UI classrooms, which had been a more serious problem in 2006.

"This is a time of great safety concerns," Herman said. "Parents have every right to expect that when they send their children to the university, the campus community will be safe."

Herman said "Unofficial" allows one bar owner to brand the university and C-U "as a place where you come to drink and party."

"The cities and the university have worked hard to build a destination where wonderful things happen," he said. " 'Unofficial' sends a very loud message that is contrary to everything positive that we are trying to do."