From State Street to Lake Michigan, from the South Side to the Loop, the famed Windy City is bracing for something really big today - no matter how Election 2008 turns out.

In Grant Park, ringed by a jeweled necklace of trees turning autumn colors, armies of security officials, police and workers were at work Monday for what this town hopes will be a mega-victory celebration for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the former community organizer whose roots run deep here.

The event is expected to attract possibly a million residents to a city celebrated for its vibrant African American culture, in part because of the potential for history in the making - the possible election of the nation's first African American president.

The extra cops, set-up, security, transportation and overtime will cost ChiTown an estimated $2 million, though the Obama campaign said it is picking up the tab.

But there are also signs that the city is preparing for tougher stuff with the kind of security usually seen in this sports-crazy town at mega-events like the Super Bowl and the World Series.

On Monday morning, teams of workers erected a wall of thick, bulletproof glass around the podium where Obama will address the crowd on election night. The speaker's platform in the Hutchinson Field area of the huge public park is within sight of thousands of windows in the downtown region. For security reasons, photographers on scene were forbidden to take photos of the site until Tuesday morning.

About 70,000 residents, out of the hordes who applied, are expected to have gotten e-mails Monday giving them the golden tickets needed to get to the area near Obama's address.

But Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has predicted that hundreds of thousands more could descend on the downtown to be part of the scene.

That means the city's popular watering holes, like High Dive Moonshine, are preparing for election night parties to welcome the overflow. The 1st Ward Young Democrats expect to crowd Moonshine for a chance to watch the moment on TV together - as they try out the new $3 "Change" brew - a special American Harvest beer release created for the occasion.

Win or lose

Indeed, Chicago is getting ready for the onslaught - win or lose.

The city has ordered all firefighters, even off-duty ones, to go home Monday with their safety gear in tow - helmets, oxygen tanks and other apparatus - in case they will be required to respond to immediate emergencies.

Leave has been canceled for all Chicago cops, and some have been assigned to polling places that promise to be particularly busy.

Businesses in the immediate area of downtown have been asked to send their workers home at 3 p.m. to help control gridlock as streets close.

Police ready

Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis told the Associated Press that the city's police force is ready and prepared for response.

"I'm extraordinarily confident that we can keep Sen. Obama safe, that we can keep the citizens of Chicago safe and that we can keep the neighborhoods safe.

"We always prepare for the worst and hope for the best," he said.

Still, nerves might be a little frayed with the recent revelations that two white supremacists had been nabbed for allegedly plotting to kill Obama and a number of other African Americans.

Jerry Kellman, the Chicago community organizer who urged Obama to move from New York to Chicago and became an early mentor of his here, said that Chicagoans are proud - and ready - for a special night and hope the city will be the setting for a historic moment that appeals to the best in all Americans.

"At this point in history, we have to trust the Secret Service, the professionals who do that job to keep Barack safe," he said. "There's no question that the political rhetoric has been really irresponsible," he said, adding that it could cause some to act up or act out in some way, though not necessarily life-threatening.

"You stir this stuff up, in Bosnia or anywhere, and it's bad for civility and public life," he said.

Danger is a given

Tony West, the Oakland attorney and longtime Obama friend and fundraiser, said that anyone who runs for the nation's highest office understands that there are dangers to be dealt with - especially in an election this hard-fought.

He's confident that whatever happens today, Chicago - and Obama- will be just fine.

"The fact is, he's got the best protection in the world ... this has been a very intense campaign, and we've had unprecedented participation by people who have never been interested or involved before.

"And that will involve a lot of feeling," he said.

Hilary Shelton, the director of the NAACP's Washington, D.C., bureau, told the AP, "We've unfortunately seen there's a few fringe people who want to create havoc, so it makes sense to have extra security ... the flip side's that any heavy-handed presence of law enforcement at polls could be intimidating."