Thursday, December 21, 2017

Building That Was Built As Dance Hall & Cafe Hits The Market

4936-40 N. Sheridan
If these walls could talk.

A building just south of Argyle on Sheridan that was most recently "Vinh Phat BBQ" is now on the market for $2.9M including the strip mall currently being rehabbed to the south.

It was built in 1920 and has an interesting past. We always wondered what it was originally constructed as. According to the West Argyle National Historic Register application:
"Just south of the Hotel Morland, the Cascades Dance Hall and Butterfly Cafe at 4936-4940 North Sheridan Road, constructed in 1920 by owner and architect Percy T. Johnstone, provided more entertainment options for residences in the immediate vicinity of West Argyle Street. 

The Chicago Daily Tribune enthusiastically reported that 'fox trotting and tray toting are to be the pastimes at the newest north side architectural combination of terpsichorean and epicurean pleasures ... The eating establishment will be on the first floor and will contain space for 1,000 hungry souls. Upstairs the same number will be accommodated on a dance floor which will be established with cascades and three electric fountains copied after those of the Biltmore in Manhattan.'

Although some residents tried to stop construction on the project, claiming that Sheridan Road was a residential street not suitable for a dance hall, the building was completed in 1921 and pre-dated the larger and more opulent venues in the Uptown Square area such as the Aragon Ballroom, which was completed in 1925."

1 comment:

  1. At least, at the absolute least,do something about the facade of the first floor. Currently it looks like a slum property. How 'bout find out what it originally looked like, and recreating that?

    ReplyDelete