Surprising to see retail within sight of the lake sitting empty year after year. This one story commercial building is vacant except for the bodega/liquor store at the corner of Rogers and Sheridan. Plenty of foot traffic to and from the "L" and to Rogers Avenue Beach.
The East of Sheridan crowd this far north doesn't have a neighborhood bar a la the Lighthouse. Seems a natural to have some sort of bar or restaurant along this stretch. Or even a greasy spoon diner. This is one of the densest neighborhoods in the city. For the level of density Rogers Park is definitely lacking in the commercial, retail sector. Rogers Park has lost population in the past thirty years but still has greater than 25,000 people per square mile according to census data.
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2 comments:
It's funny that you mention a bar because there used to be one in one of those store fronts. It was called the Beachview, as was the liquor store on the corner. Early on, they were adjoined by a door so that you could walk from the store into the bar. It closed sometime in the late 80's or very early 90's. There was also the somewhat famous Biddy Mulligan's around the corner on Sheridan.
Right you are, Jim. The Liquor store and bar were owned by the Marks family and was a long time family business. At one time, the liquor store had a number of delivery vehicles to meet the drinking demand of the North Shore communities, including Northwestern U. in Evanston, which were all dry until the late 70's. Sid Marks and his wife Jane took over the business in the early 80's and became very active with the Howard/Paulina Develop Corp. and we became good friends. They sold the liquor store and focused on the bar, The BeachView, rehabbing and rebuilding it. They were one of the first, if not the first, neighborhood bar in Chicago to host "Turtle Races". It was highly successful and The BeachView became a very popular neighborhood bar. My brother and I once spent an hour or so, sharing shots and beers at the bar with Bo Diddly, who was appearing around the corner at Biddy Mulligans. Those were the days!?
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