South Loop Neighbors’ Night Out April 13 at Kroll's

South Loop Neighbors’ Night Out
Location: Kroll’s, 1736 S. Michigan Ave.
When” Wednesday, April 13, 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Topic: Forum on Schools

Interested in the future of the South Loop? Want to share your thoughts on neighborhood development, learn from others, and provide input to elected officials, city staff and real estate developers? Just want to meet some fellow South Loopers and have a little fun? Then join us! 

Starting in 2016 the Greater South Loop Association will host a monthly Neighbor's Night Out for anyone wanting to meet up and be part of the neighborhood’s future. Each month will have a general topic, and we’ll invite relevant speakers to share some thoughts and be part of the dialogue. These sessions will also help the Greater South Loop Association fulfill its role as a conduit for neighborhood input on important community development issues.

FREE RSVP: Click Here.

Is the Roosevelt Road streetscape an improvement?

As anyone who lives in the South Loop has observed, Roosevelt Road, especially between State and Michigan, has gone through a transformation over the past two years. With its raised sidewalk bike lanes, to its east and west facing metal benches, the area has been transformed.

Metal benches were ripe for vandalism as soon as they were installed.

South Loop becoming craft beer mecca

In a recent article posted to the WTTW Web site, the South Loop is carving out a new identity as the home of craft beer breweries. We know about Vice District at 1454 S. Michigan, which opened last fall, but two other breweries are opening soon.

Motor Row Brewing, 2337 S. Michigan Ave., is set to open this month and Baderbräu Brewing Company, 2515 S. Wabash Ave., should open this summer. With Motor Row and Baderbräun opening south of Cermak, it might help spur development that has been stalled in that area for years.

Vice District Brewing Co. Opens in the South Loop

Vice District Brewing, 1454 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1, Chicago, IL is open! Friday night (last night) was the night. Free samples all around to a packed house of excited craft beer fans. Welcome to the South Loop!

The look is industrial, but warm with wood picnic-like tables, and what looks like reclaimed wood paneling, similar to the material used at The Scout. One cool feature we noticed was electric outlets along the bar so you can charge your phone or electronic device.

South Loopers mingled with hardcore beer aficionados, sampling some five new brews. One caught our eye: Everleigh, named after the famed house of prostitution located at 2131 - 2133 S. Dearborn Street.

The Everleigh Club was visited my the famous and infamous from all over the world. It was in business from February 1900 until October 1911. It was closed by Chicago’s Vice Commission. If you want to learn more about this colorful period in Chicago’s history, we recommend you read Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott.

The official opening of Vice District Brewing Co. is September 2, 2014.

Shalane Flanagan and Andy Wacker win Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago

Perhaps you got a chance to see Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago winners Andy Wacker and Shalane Flanagan run by your neighborhood on Sunday. If not, here’s short look at what the race was like when the runners ran south on Michigan Ave. in the South Loop.

Don’t forget to check out the guy who screams into the camera toward the end. What was he thinking?

Strike at Congress Hotel ends after ten years

Not with a bang but a whimper
Can you believe it? The strike at the Congress Hotel is over! According the Tribune, the 10-year hotel strike is considered the longest union hotel strike in the world. Imagine that.

Strikers in front of Congress Hotel, November 2010

I moved to Chicago in 2003. The strikers were a familiar scene in front of the hotel at 520 S. Michigan Ave. Most of the time there were about a half-dozen protesters carrying signs in front of the entrance, but sometimes there would be larger crowds, with musicians and a “leader” encouraging the picketers using a microphone or megaphone. The strikers were such a fixture on Michigan Ave., that I’m sure the Chicago tour buses pointed to them on their daily rounds.

Smooth Sailing in Troubled Waters: Weather Mark Tavern celebrates six years in the South Loop

Weather Mark is the only
nautically themed bar in Chicago.

Weather Mark Tavern at 1503 S. Michigan Ave. celebrates six years in the South Loop Saturday, June 16, 2012. Weather Mark is the only bar in Chicago with a nautical theme, featuring great food and drink in a casual, family-friendly atmosphere.

Owner Mark Stern’s vision was to open an establishment with a casual bar atmosphere featuring upscale entrees and appetizers, along with craft beers and rum drinks. Stern remembers when his concept was considered a risk at best and foolish at worst. “We were a ‘gastro pub’ before the term was coined. From day one, we offered food that wasn’t normally part of a casual tavern’s menu,” Stern said. At Weather Mark Tavern, you can order a Reuben sandwich with fries or a filet mignon with port wine reduction, potato spring roll, and asparagus off of the same menu.

Click on poster above to enlarge.

When Stern opened Weather Mark in June 2006, the South Loop was one of the hottest neighborhoods in Chicago. Once upon a time, the area south of Roosevelt Road was populated with old—and mostly abandoned—factories and warehouses. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that residential development kicked off the boom. And then came 2008 and the economic downturn. Dozens of businesses in the South Loop closed. For several years, things looked pretty bleak, but somehow Weather Mark Tavern navigated the choppy waters of the recession. “We’ve seen businesses come and go in the South Loop, but we’ve managed to stay fresh and relevant to our customers and there’s a lot more competition in this neighborhood than there was in 2006,” notes Stern. What about 2012 and beyond? According to Stern, it looks like  “smooth sailing” ahead.

The 6th anniversary celebration includes giveaways, free appetizer buffet, live music and DJ, champagne toast.

For more information on the anniversary event and Weather Mark Tavern, call 312.588.0230. You can also find them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Steven Paul Jobs (1955-2011)

Banners in front of Apple Store

Impromptu  Memorial
Shortly after Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011, memorials sprung up at Apple stores across the country and the world. The Chicago Apple store on Michigan Ave. was no exception. Colorful post-it notes cover the large windows facing the avenue. Many said “thanks” and “you will be missed.” Not all messages were in English, which shows Jobs’s influence was international.

Some of the hundreds of notes posted to the Apple Store on Michigan Ave.

Cool and Beautiful
Jobs made technology both cool and beautiful. I remember my tangerine iMac; it was a work of art compared to other computers available in the late-1990s. Many of you are probably reading this blog post on your iPhones or iPads, lasting testaments to his genius and renown.

"Steve Jobs Memorial"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

If you had the opportunity, what message would you have posted to the windows at the Apple Store?

Around the South Loop: 2011 Volume 7: Signs of Spring

Here in Chicago, we're all yearning for spring and the warmer weather to come. According to the weather reports, we're in for some more cold days, but there are signs that spring is on its way.

Life finds a way: tulips are popping out of the ground.

The lights were still on during my morning walk up S. Michigan Ave.

A lunch wagon parks in front of a fire plug

One of the first fountains to have its winter covering removed: a clear sign of spring.

Broadway in Chicago: "The Merchant of Venice" starring F. Murray Abraham.

The sky's the limit in Chicago.

Around the South Loop: 2011 Edition Volume 2

The last two weeks in Chicago were pretty exciting. The Bears bested the Seahawks, the snow came and went and came back again. If you were walking around the city, it was pretty rough going in some places. But that's all part of winter in Chicago, right? It's also part of what makes us start thinking that spring can't come any time too soon. Let's take a walk around the South Loop and see what the last two weeks were like.

Bears fans assemble in the South Loop for Sunday's game.

It wouldn't be Bears game day without cops writing tickets now, would it?

And it wouldn't be Bears game day without tailgating...at 9 a.m.

The number 12 bus stops at Michigan and 16th St.

Traffic blocked at Adams, caused backups on Michigan Ave. this Tuesday.

They finally took the wreaths off the Art Institute lions.

Michigan Ave. looking north to downtown

Everything you need to know on one signpost

Nothing stops the picketers in front of the Congress Hotel.

Happy Cleaners on S. Indiana can't make up their mind who they're supporting for Alderman.

Footprints in the snow at Grant Park

Two birds found my balcony  a great place to rest and catch some rays...when there were some rays to catch.

We Get Knocked Down, But We Get Up Again!

If you've walked along Michigan Ave. near the Art Institute, you probably noticed the painted trees a bit to the south. The trees died from disease, but rather than throw them away, the park district had them painted and installed as art. There is another group of similar painted trees by the bend on Lake Shore Drive near Randolph St.

Earlier in the week, some of the trees were bent, others were completely out of the ground.

Yesterday, the trees were upright and standing again, with what looked bricks placed around the trunks for extra support.

Burger and Brew Night at Weather Mark Tavern: The Best Deal on a Monday Night

For years I've dined at Weather Mark Tavern at 1503 S. Michigan Ave. I've enjoyed having a neighborhood pub within walking distance. One of my favorite meals is their blackened tuna sandwich. But on Monday's, it's burger and brew night. For $6, you get a hamburger with two toppings, fries, and a beer! How can you beat that? It's hard to do, but if you know of a better daily special in the South Loop, please let your neighbors know.

My burger with avocado and Swiss cheese and Blue Moon, all for $6!

March of the Segways

A familiar sight around Chicago is the Segway tours. It's almost impossible to walk downtown without seeing a dozen of these vehicles zipping along Michigan Ave. or around Millennium Park. I caught a glimpse of these Segway tourists motoring through Northerly Island on a beautiful fall day this week.

Part of the South Loop skyline from Northerly Island.

Around Chicago and the South Loop

Look at this Beauty!
Walking down Michigan Ave., I came across this classic Lincoln Continental. It has Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack written all over it. Where's my fedora?

Saw this classic Lincoln Continental staring at me on 14th St.

 

Here's a profile view; what a beauty!

When is Donna's Cafe Opening? Soon We Hope.

It All Depends on What "Soon" Means
In the window of 1255E S. State St., is a sign that reads "Donna's Cafe Coming Soon!" Well, that sign has been there since at least June. Doesn't Donna know that it isn't fair to tease us so? Anytime we see or hear an announcement about a new place opening up, we get excited. I mean, how long was A' Cappela Bistro at 1301 S. Michigan "opening soon?"

How soon is "coming soon?"

Pita Corner Coming in August?
WineStyles is gone, but next door to it at 1250 S. Michigan Ave. there is a sign that says Pita Corner is opening in "August." With August practically over, one wonders if they mean August 2010? Again, it's not nice to tease us folks in the South Loop.

If anyone has some inside information on either Donna's Cafe and/or Pita Corner, please send us a message. Inquiring minds want to know.

Another One Bites the Dust: WineStyles Closes

It's been reported elsewhere, but it's still a surprise to see WineStyles at 1240 S. Michigan Ave. closed and empty. This is especially hard to believe since I was there about a week ago on a week night and it was filled with customers. Many neighbors enjoyed the friendly staff and atmosphere. WineStyles will be missed.

WineStyles at 1240 S. Michigan closes

Two Left Standing
After years of having no specialty wine shops in the South Loop, seemingly overnight we had four: South Loop Wine Cellar, Sam's, Binney's, and WineStyles. Sam's was the first to go. Now WineStyles is no more, leaving South Loop Wine Cellar at 1442 S. Michigan Ave. (the first wine shop to open here) and Binney's at 1132 S. Jefferson St.

Cubbies once filled with dozens of wine bottles are now empty.

Chicago or San Francisco?

With the fog hanging around for most of the day, the city on the lake was looking more like the city by the bay.

It isn't the spray from the fountain obscuring the view of downtown.

This view looking north up S. Michigan Ave. from Roosevelt Rd. makes it look as if the loop is vanishing.

2010 Chicago Auto Show

Oldest in North America
The 2010 Chicago Auto Show is at McCormick Place until Sunday February 21. The Chicago auto show is the largest of its kind in North America. Chicago has been hosting the auto show since 1901 (now in its 102nd year).

Historic Motor Row
During the turn of the century the South Loop section of Michigan Ave. was called motor row, with numerous car dealerships. To help sell cars, Michigan Ave. was one of the smoothest roads anywhere.

Many of the loft-style condos and offices in the neighborhood are former auto dealerships. The McHugh Construction Company at 1737 S. Michigan Ave. was the former home of the Maxwell-Briscoe Automobile Company. The original building, restored by McHugh, was constructed in 1909.




Dealerships Past
You can't see it today because it's covered up with a banner advertising condos for sale, but 1452 S. Michigan Ave. was home to a Buick dealership. In fact, the Buick name and logo is carved into the building. Someday, when that banner comes down, it will be on display once again. The building for the last couple of years has served as the sales showroom for the Marquee and Terrazio condominium complexes.

Nordstom Rack to open on Magnificent Mile

Nordstrom Rack is coming to Michigan Ave. this fall. The new store will be housed in the former CompUSA location on East Chicago Ave., between Michigan Ave. and Rush St.

Steep discounts
This will be the second downtown location for Nordstrom Rack and their seventh in the overall Chicagoland area. Nordstom Rack is know for selling merchandise from their flagship department stores at steep discounts. The new location will have 36,000 square feet of selling space.

New asphalt on Michigan Ave.

Asphalt is being poured now that the summer is ending and the weather is getting cooler. Michigan Ave. will have a brand-new look before you know it.







So, what's a little traffic back up when the rewards of driving down a pot-hole-free Michigan Ave. is only days away? Check out this scene on the right, from this afternoon in front of the Congress Hotel.