Our Neighborhood Deserves Public Places of Amusement

Despite a growing cultural scene, Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood lacks spaces for performance and spectacle, especially any built on commerce and entertainment for the adult over-21 crowd.

Yes, we have a couple excellent watering holes, among them Marz Community Brewing Co., One City Tap and even our William McKinley American Legion Post 231, which serves ‘em up to its members and guests every day from morning until past midnight.

However, the only neighborhood property with a Public Place of Amusement (PPA) license is the Cielo Dulce event venue – formerly the El Rey Ballroom – tucked away behind the Tupperware store at West 35th Street and South Western Avenue.

The map of the Dead Bars of McKinley Park shows approximate locations of former McKinley Park neighborhood taverns and bars, now closed. For additions and errata, post a comment below or send email to info@mckinleypark.news. 

Everything Amusing

Chicago’s PPA licenses are required “to produce, present, or conduct any type of amusement,” the city states on its PPA info page.

This includes just about everything amusing, not just the dedicated performance and music spaces one might expect, such as stadiums and auditorium theaters.

Donations Require a PPA

Will there be a DJ or dancing? That’s a PPA. Are you renting out a facility for a public-facing event? A PPA is required. Do you have a business with more than one pool table or three arcade machines? Guess what you need. Can you have a singer? Fuggetaboutit.

Establishments providing no-cost access for fewer than 100 people are exempt, however, “venues charging an admission fee or accepting a donation ... require a PPA license,” says Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP). Anything with more than 100 attendees requires a PPA no matter what.

Getting a PPA

The penalties are harsh: “Operating without a PPA license is cause for fines of up to $10,000 or immediate closure,” the city says.

The McKinley Park neighborhood's Grand Theater once stood at 3512 S. Archer Ave., Chicago.Getting a PPA is not cheap or simple: An occupancy-based license fee between $770 and $13,200 is required every two years. Every business owner and corporate officer must be fingerprinted. Debts and insurance requirements must be satisfied, and the establishment must pass inspections by Chicago’s Department of Buildings and the Chicago Fire Department. Liquor and food service each require their own licenses.

No Joy on 35th Street

Even though McKinley Park’s stretch of West 35th Street is being thankfully up-zoned, any PPA along it would still require special zoning approval, since every property is within 125 feet of a residence. Nearby voters must be alerted and can file objections, too.

With requirements like these, especially in an area rebuilding from economic disinvestment, we might be waiting a long time for something fun to open along West 35th Street.

Tacos of Questionable Provenance

Now, this being Chicago, our city has both artists who buck regulations in order to get their creative work in front of audiences no matter what, and a regime of selective enforcement, in which some receive attention and others don’t.

I’m all for safety: We can’t allow a tragic fire or stampede, and I’m not likely to pay admission to eat a taco of unknown provenance from a non-profit wellness center operating as an unlicensed, ticketed nightclub, even if it is bafflingly promoted by the local development council and its municipal elected official.

Hammer Over the Garden

However, the PPA hammer could also presumably hover over small performances in McKinley Park’s public outdoor spaces and parks, because the community group putting it on is also asking for a donation from attendees.

The McKinley Park neighborhood bowling alley on West 35th Street at South Archer Avenue is long gone.In Chicago, there’s no nuance to scale, nor consistency in enforcement, and the prospect to get a PPA license for a small, unfunded, creative space operator looks harder than pushing a boulder up a mountain. It’s no wonder that Chicago births all kinds of off-grid venues and has for decades, including the growing scene here in McKinley Park.

Same As It Ever Was

Unfortunately, any such effort is destined to be a victim of its own success, receiving arbitrary enforcement once popular enough to merit attention. As a Chicagoan who likes to party, and despite dating myself, I’ll note that I’ve seen this pattern consistently since the late 1980s.

How do we solve this? The answer is not simple. In addition to reducing costs, a primary target is enabling opportunity to inspire the significant capital investment required to launch and sustain event venues. Government incentives can help, as can demonstrating the neighborhood’s growing income and attainment.

Hello, Gentrification!

McKinley Park is certainly turning from working to professional class: The July 2025 Community Data Snapshot from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) shows a nearly 40 percent increase in household median income in the most recent 2019 to 2023 reporting period.

The neighborhood is also becoming older and much more educated, housing nearly twice the number of residents with bachelor’s degrees — and nearly triple with graduate degrees — versus the previous 2009-2013 reporting period.

Housing Ladder

Owner-occupied housing has jumped, as has the percentage of single-family homes. They’re bigger, too, with the number of residences with five or more bedrooms more than doubling between reporting periods. Vacancies fell to 6.8 percent of housing stock.

The Brighton Race Track delighted racing fans at the property that is now McKinley Park.The big danger of gentrification is pushing out our longtime community members. The solution to gentrification is a “ladder” of housing types that allow residents to change homes while staying in the area, as revealed in CMAP’s McKinley Park Neighborhood Plan, published in 2021.

Performative Environmentalism

Affordable housing is especially important, as this enables access for both working families and nearby options for current residents who are downsizing due to circumstance or income.

Unfortunately, some stymied our shot at a major affordable housing project, citing environmental concerns despite advocating for other residential developments nearby and solely focusing on one emitter while ignoring all others and submitting fraudulent complaint data.

Going Legit

In much the same way that we should support affordable housing and not allow it to be a political football canceled by NIMBYs, a proper PPA regime would also support those who have access to less, especially when starting out.

This means consistent enforcement integrated with support services from other city departments and government to help operators “go legit” — contributing to our community’s cultural scene without fear and helping performers make a living.

Cultural Upzoning

The PPA licensing regime must be changed so that it’s not something only available to the wealthy. Affordable step-up and interim licensing opportunities should be made available, and zoning obstacles removed, while still addressing primary concerns of safety and neighborliness.

The Midwest Theater in Chicago's McKinley Park neighborhood once stood at 3558 S. Archer Ave., Chicago.The city should seek to develop specialized business support for performance venue operators and other providers of amusement, such as access to city-approved, subsidized insurance policies to reduce ongoing operating costs; tax incentives to reduce PPA venue rent burdens; access to capital and lending; and expedited business services, especially for qualified, smaller operators.

Nudge and a Wink

BACP and our city officials also need to decide if they’re going to enforce regulation or not, or continue limping along with Chicago’s classic nudge-and-a-wink system that will only punish success and keep culture and amusement from thriving within our community.

Chicago is making a choice to allow too many neighborhoods like McKinley Park to remain culturally disadvantaged, bereft of venues that would enrich our community, but are only accessible in wealthier neighborhoods where capital can overcome a mountain of challenge.

Citizens, artists, business owners and our city deserve better through properly run places where we can amuse ourselves and enjoy performance, culture and camaraderie, right here in our neighborhood.