Published
Wed, Sep 27, 2023, 14:10
- The venue will go into receivership and shut for good without the necessary funding.
Chicago venue The Lodge has been shut down by the authorities.
The historic venue will go into receivership and close for good unless it can raise $50,000 for maintenance work, which must be completed by October 26th. The 86-year-old space–once a cinema and meeting point for the Chicago Suffragists–was opened as a private house music members club in 2015 by local artist Craig Loftis. He told Resident Advisor that he's been battling with the City Council over "minor issues" to do with the building for several years.
Since 1937, the building has been under the ownership of African-American fraternity group The Elks. Members of the group have been throwing music and dance events for the local community for decades. Loftis, who is also a member of the group, told RA that without the means to stay open for business, raising the target amount has become a catch-22 situation.
For this reason, Loftis has launched a fundraiser to help the cause. While he's confident that he can make the necessary repairs by the chosen date, he said shutting the building down was "unwarranted when one branch of the city government said we were operating in complete compliance and the other decided we weren't."
The Lodge, he added, is being targeted by authorities in the same way as other Black-owned venues. "To the city, we're just another Black club and room full of Black people waiting to explode," he told RA. "They don't know house music. They don't know that this is truly a spiritual thing; it's not just another party, we are family."
Preservation Chicago, a local architectural conservation group, has joined forces with Loftis to help protect the venue from any possible future demolition threats, should it ever change hands. If granted, this would give the venue the chance to apply for city funding to help with restoration and renovation. The group's spokesperson, Max Chavez, told RA that an application to get the building landmark status was submitted to the local authority last week and achieving this will mean the building "would be well-positioned" to receive the funds.
He continued: "Preservation Chicago is proud to partner with Craig Loftis on this important effort to save this significant historic site. This building is too important to lose and deserves to be honoured as an official Chicago landmark."
As a DJ, label owner and producer, Loftis is a key figure in Chicago's house music scene. He's been playing in the city since 1979 and is renowned for redesigning the sound system at Frankie Knuckles' Power Plant venue. He took on The Lodge to stage events because there was "a lack of real underground house music clubs" in the city. Recent guests include Ron Trent, Joe Smooth and Cordell Johnson.
"Just look how long it took Chicago to acknowledge house music in its own birth place," Loftis added. "It took the rest of the world to show them its true power but they still don't know it's meaning. House music saves lives and keeps kids off the streets. I'm glad [the local authority has] finally acknowledged it, but they've got a lot of catching up to do. And I just wish they'd leave us in peace to enjoy our music."
RA has approached Chicago City Council for comment. We'll report more on this story as it develops.