A Blast From The Not-Too-Distant Past

As we concentrate this week on the old (most of Uptown's sites in Open House Chicago) and discuss the new (a rebuilt Wilson el station), here's a look back 12 years at Wilson and Broadway.  It's from the show Early Edition, and aired in spring of 2000.  If you start at the 11:05 mark, you'll see a scene that starts around Leland and Broadway, goes to Wilson and Broadway, and ends up at Gunnison and Magnolia.  The Uptown portion ends around the 14:00 mark.

Twelve years doesn't seem like much, and there are still some familiar sights:  the Riviera, the currency exchange, City Sports, Just Tires.  (On second thought, is that Just Tires?  The building looks the same, the logo does not.)

But a lot of what's in the clip isn't there now:  the Wilson Donut Shop in the el station (and the horrible bright blue paint); Two Bros. clothing store; the record store where MDT Architects now is.  The Borders building still had the rusting water tower on top and Goldblatt's signage, although Goldblatt's had closed a few years prior.  Fat Cat wasn't even a consideration, and its space was taken up by a furniture store (Heilig Meyers, if memory serves).  No Thai Uptown, no Family Dollar on the 4600 block of Broadway, and very few of the business windows or signs look familiar to today's eyes.

Enjoy a trip down memory lane.  If you can identify any of the stores or businesses that are no longer there, please add to the comments.