formerly known as kenspank
12-12-2003, 12:52 PM
Rainbo's End: Condos to replace roller rink
by Jim Sterne
News Editor
The Rainbo Roller Rink at 4836 N. Clark St. will be sold to Vicor Development, Inc. Although cited by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, Rainbo’s days are numbered. Over 100 condominiums could be built on the two-acre site.
“It certainly is important historically,” said Uptown resident and
preservationist Martin Tangora. “It doesn’t have the importance or appeal of the Aragon. But it is a significant souvenir of that era.”
Fred Mann, a local restaurateur, originally developed the site in 1922 for big-band entertainment. Those were the days when flappers with bobbed hair danced the “Charleston.” A movable stage spilled out into a garden of flowered terraces and small waterfalls. The large, open ballroom undulated with rainbow-colored light.
The Rainbo was host to countless political banquets and a particular
favorite of Mayor “Big Bill” Thompson.
Prohibition hurt the club badly and the owners tried many schemes to keep it alive. The garden was used for jai-alai and softball games, as well as wrestling matches. Even dog shows were promoted.
Chicago native Michael Todd bought the property in 1939. After extravagant remodeling, Todd called it the “Million Dollar Ballroom.”
But Todd developed a taste for Elizabeth Taylor and movie production. He put his extravagant taste to work developing Todd-A-O technology for his movie “Around the World in 80 Days,” and he married Taylor, meanwhile leaving the Rainbo to fend for itself.
The Rainbo scrambled to keep up with changing culture. It was an ice-skating rink, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and a bar before returning to its signature light shows accompanied by the turbulent sounds of the 60s.
It was the Electric Theater and Kinetic Playground. It was where the
Rolling Stones played. Some can remember waiting in the long line under a hot summer sun where the only movement was the tombstone’s shadows at St. Boniface Cemetery across the street. Hippies in their rainbow colors waited to hear the endless drumming of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly, the warm-up band for Jefferson Airplane.
The 70s ended and so did the music. United Skates of America bought the property in 1980, remodeled with chrome and glass and a 80 ft. outline of the Chicago skyline—now it was a roller rink. A typical high school date in those days was miniature golf on Devon and roller-skating at the new Rainbo on Clark.
If the Rainbo is razed to make room for condos it will be the first time in over a hundred years that the site will not be used for entertainment. City records show that, way back in 1870, Jacob Keil built a entertaining roadhouse on the site for visitors who took the long trek from Chicago to visit the cemetery.
To many, the old neighborhood buildings are the architecture of our memories. They give a place for continuity as we grow older, and preserve a unique historical urban flavor for new residents.
Will anyone really miss the old building at 4836 N. Clark St. and the memories that have been built through almost four generations?...Time will tell.
by Jim Sterne
News Editor
The Rainbo Roller Rink at 4836 N. Clark St. will be sold to Vicor Development, Inc. Although cited by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, Rainbo’s days are numbered. Over 100 condominiums could be built on the two-acre site.
“It certainly is important historically,” said Uptown resident and
preservationist Martin Tangora. “It doesn’t have the importance or appeal of the Aragon. But it is a significant souvenir of that era.”
Fred Mann, a local restaurateur, originally developed the site in 1922 for big-band entertainment. Those were the days when flappers with bobbed hair danced the “Charleston.” A movable stage spilled out into a garden of flowered terraces and small waterfalls. The large, open ballroom undulated with rainbow-colored light.
The Rainbo was host to countless political banquets and a particular
favorite of Mayor “Big Bill” Thompson.
Prohibition hurt the club badly and the owners tried many schemes to keep it alive. The garden was used for jai-alai and softball games, as well as wrestling matches. Even dog shows were promoted.
Chicago native Michael Todd bought the property in 1939. After extravagant remodeling, Todd called it the “Million Dollar Ballroom.”
But Todd developed a taste for Elizabeth Taylor and movie production. He put his extravagant taste to work developing Todd-A-O technology for his movie “Around the World in 80 Days,” and he married Taylor, meanwhile leaving the Rainbo to fend for itself.
The Rainbo scrambled to keep up with changing culture. It was an ice-skating rink, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and a bar before returning to its signature light shows accompanied by the turbulent sounds of the 60s.
It was the Electric Theater and Kinetic Playground. It was where the
Rolling Stones played. Some can remember waiting in the long line under a hot summer sun where the only movement was the tombstone’s shadows at St. Boniface Cemetery across the street. Hippies in their rainbow colors waited to hear the endless drumming of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly, the warm-up band for Jefferson Airplane.
The 70s ended and so did the music. United Skates of America bought the property in 1980, remodeled with chrome and glass and a 80 ft. outline of the Chicago skyline—now it was a roller rink. A typical high school date in those days was miniature golf on Devon and roller-skating at the new Rainbo on Clark.
If the Rainbo is razed to make room for condos it will be the first time in over a hundred years that the site will not be used for entertainment. City records show that, way back in 1870, Jacob Keil built a entertaining roadhouse on the site for visitors who took the long trek from Chicago to visit the cemetery.
To many, the old neighborhood buildings are the architecture of our memories. They give a place for continuity as we grow older, and preserve a unique historical urban flavor for new residents.
Will anyone really miss the old building at 4836 N. Clark St. and the memories that have been built through almost four generations?...Time will tell.