5/8/2023 0 Comments Fireside chicagoVillagrana says the alderman’s office had fielded complaints about the Fireside from increasingly “more vocal” residents in recent years. The value of the Fireside will be determined at a hearing that has not yet been scheduled. Under eminent domain, the owners are entitled to “fair cash market value” as compensation, and though they can dispute the price if they find it unfair, they can’t stop the city from acquiring the property. (Lapinski, who took over the business from his father in 1993, did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.) On May 16 the Park District sent letters to the affected businesses notifying them that their buildings had been designated for acquisition. According to Jones, Fireside Bowl owner Jim Lapinski did not attend any of them. Over the following winter and spring the Park District held several community meetings at which the proposal was discussed. So Ocasio proposed expanding the park eastward. In April 1999 Phil Jones, head of the Haas Park Advisory Council, approached Ocasio about building a new field house to accommodate all this activity, but a feasibility study determined that it wouldn’t be possible on the existing lot. Haas Park, despite its size, is the busiest playground in the city and ranks seventh in the number of children participating in organized health and physical fitness programs. According to a 1998 city survey of green space, the Fireside’s neighborhood, Logan Square, needs about 110 acres more than it has. “It’s either the kids who are coming from everywhere else and leaving a mess when they go or it’s the tots that live in the community,” says Hector Villagrana, chief of staff for 26th Ward alderman Billy Ocasio. The buildings will be torn down to make way for the expansion of Haas Park, a wedge of playground that occupies just under an acre of land one block west on Fullerton. The Chicago Park District is using eminent domain, which allows for the purchase of private property for public use, to acquire the bowling alley, along with a neighboring muffler shop and a tavern. And it’s the only such venue in the city whose primary goal is to present this sort of music to fans of all ages: for many area teenagers, the Fireside is a bustling alternative to a night at the video arcade or worse.Ī rumor has been circulating recently that the Fireside will be closing–and unfortunately, though it probably won’t happen immediately, it’s true. Its sometimes hectic schedule is one of the most diverse in the country, with room for both up-and-coming bands like the Promise Ring and resolutely underground acts like the now defunct Los Crudos. Since it first started hosting shows, in the summer of 1994, the Fireside has become a destination for punk, pop, ska, metal, and experimental music from all over the city and all over the world. On most nights the lanes at the Fireside Bowl are silent, but the shabby bowling alley at 2646 W. Get your UnGala tickets: A museum takeover and art party celebrating the Reader's 50ish anniversary Close
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