Happy Holiday's from Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce. This summer, Dominick's burned to the ground. I covered this story. The Dominick's site also housed the Lake View East Chamber of Commerce. The Lake View East Chamber office was relocated. For awhile they shared space with the Central Lakeview something or another commerce, but by the holiday's they were back in their own spot on Broadway.
Not to let the setback of a fire and relocation get in the way, they held their annual Holiday promotion DevCorp North tried to copy last year.
Here's how it works. See, If you spent money ($300 dollars) at any of the stores, you got money back a $50 dollar gift certificate from the Chamber. Notice the overwhelming response!
As you can tell by the photo, all the fancy store bags displayed in the East Lakeview chambers window, lots of shops were involved. From book stores, to coffee shops. clothing, eye wear, shirts, plants, furniture, music, electronics. Well, you get the picture. The chamber went the extra mile to promote the shops, even with it's back to the wall, like having a fire 6 months earlier. Now that's an accomplishment.
Now let's look at DevCorp North under the helm of Kimberly Bares. Sad DevCorp North. Closed DevCorp North. This was on a Friday, mid-day. I took both photos on the same day, one chamber was working, one wasn't. Can you guess which was doing which? Look at the photo closely. Plain. Drab. Dark. Dead. Boring. Don't come here. Don't shop here. Stay away. The signs in the window say it all.... DevCorp North - Closed - No Solicitation!
As I sign off for the New Year, I want to thank the likes of Kimberly Bares at DevCorp North, Cary Steinbuck at Rogers Park Community Council, Kevin O'Neil at CAPS beat 2431 and Alderman Moore. For with-out them and there total incompetence in our 49th ward, there would be no Morse Hell Hole. Have a happy and safe New Years Eve everyone.
5 comments:
Dear Craig:
So Nice that you've brought your polution down down to the Edgewater blog. Why don't you and Hugh stay up here in RP where you can wollow in your misery.
Dominick's on Broadway burns to the ground,
future of site uncertain
By Ronald Roenigk, Publisher, Inside Publications
Photos by Bruce Plassmeyer and our own Craig Gernhardt
June 22, 2005
... The Fire Department has not determined the cause of the fire, which reportedly started in the false ceiling and spread to the paper goods in aisle 8. ...
The future of the property is uncertain and there is no guarantee that Dominick's will rebuild at this location. ...
Dominick's does not own the valuable real estate — fronting Broadway — that the store sits on, as it was never sold to Safeway as a part of their purchase of the Dominick's chain. Approximately five years ago the property's owners had floated a plan to tear down the store and replace it with a new store topped by 44 condos. That was until Ald. Bernie Hansen (44th) heard about it. Hansen nixed that proposal, downzoned the property and retired from office for health reasons. The fate of the large lot is now in the hands of the current alderman, Tom Tunney, area neighbors, and Dominick's which still holds a lease for the site. But it is safe to say that Lake View grocery shoppers will not buying food at this location for at least a year or more.
Craig,
Sorry I did not pay better attention to this story when you first posted it, but I'm just now noticing that the owners of the property, not mentioned by name in the Inside article, are the same owners as the Dominick's in Gateway Mall. The DiMatteos hung on to some of their real estate when they sold out to Safeway, leasing the most valuable locations. The DiMatteo family names all their LLC's after their scion, Dominick DiMatteo. They have so many LLC's it's hard to keep track of them all sometimes. Dodi Broadway LLC owns the 3012 N. Broadway property, and Dodi Howard LLC is one of DevCorp North's partners in Gateway Mall. Small world, huh?
It's a sad story, a neighborhood grocery burning down, until you read on and learn that the owners weren't that crazy about the building anyway. The last paragraph in the Inside article is about as close as a member of the legitimate press dare get to describing Italian lightening. Thank god we neighbors have our alternative media. Someone should make sure there's adequate grounding on the roof of Gateway Mall and working sprinklers. I wonder if Ald. Hansen every woke up and found a horse head in his bed?
Here's an update on the Dominck's from Ald. Tom Tunney's excellent zoning web site:
... the status of Dominicks. The land is not owned by the grocery chain. The owner has committed though to having the grocer back to that location, but it will be more than just a 1 story store now. They are contemplating some residential above. The Alderman has asked them to stay with the look of the streetscape and to possibly add an alley.
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