The Fireside Bowl
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Coordinates: 41°55′29.94″N 87°41′38.85″W / 41.9249833°N 87.694125°W
The Fireside Bowl (or the Fireside) is a bowling alley and music venue established in the 1940s, located at 2648 W Fullerton Ave in Chicago, Illinois.
[edit] History
The building was an ice factory in its early days. In the summer of 1941 renovations began and the owner Hank Sophie converted it into a bowling alley, cashing-in on the bowling craze that began in mid-20th century America.It started as a twelve lane pin boy bowling alley and thrived throughout the 40s and 50s. In 1956 it was expanded and AMF automatic pinspotters were installed and the remodeled. The Fireside was expanded by four lanes bringing the total to 16 lanes. The Fireside was owned and operated by Hank Sophie until 1966 when Rich Lapinski and Alec McGuire bought the bowling alley from an ailing Hank Sophie. Rich and Alec also known as "Mac" operated it together until 1971 when Rich bought out Mac. From 1971 until 1990 Lapinski operated it as a thriving bowling alley. As the neighborhood changed and Fireside fell into disrepair Lapinski handed the establishment to his son Jim. The neighborhood was getting rough and business slowed so Fireside began to showase live music on a part time basis in 1994.
While the bowling lanes became dilapidated and in operable due to neglect, the music continued to bring the crowds in and make the business money. This occurred mostly for two reasons: the booking of good bands, and the all ages aspect. Leaning mostly on punk rock, the Fireside housed a live music venue for touring and local bands of all notoriety. Yet, since it technically operated as a bowling alley it was one of the only venues in the city of Chicago that offered all ages, and 18+ shows. This enabled persons under the legal drinking age (21) the opportunity to see a rock show usually otherwise off limits to them in a bar/tavern. This was pivitol for underage people growing up in Chicago and made it a favorite gathering place. Since punk rock tends to usually attracts younger crowds, it became a success. The place became that of legend: Trashiest venue in town, horribly disgusting bathrooms, ceiling falling in, odd ball people. Yet, upon any given night one could find kids and adults having a fun time together, seeing some of the finest acts their genre had to offer in a up close and personal intimate setting. Fireside Bowl had the pleasure of hosting some of the best underground, and independant punk rock shows of any venue in the country in its day.
Gradually, more and more shows were held there until 1999 when the City of Chicago wanted to expand the nearby Haas Park. For the next several years the cloud of eminent domain hung over Fireside, but it continued to host shows promoted by Brian Peterson and Dave Eaves. As time went on and the neighborhood changed neighbors became increasingly more vocal about the live music acts. Then in 2003 the City of Chicago dropped the eminent domain suit and it was decided by the owners and family, with talks to the alderman concerning it continued status that if Fireside was to continue over the long term it needed to get back to its roots of bowling.
In the Summer of 2004 renovations were made to update things such as automatic scoring, new lanes and equipment and upgrades to the building and its amenities. It restated as a bowling alley without ever closing in the fall of 2004.
[edit] Popular culture
Several external scenes from the 1992 film Rapid Fire, featuring [Brandon Lee] and [Powers Boothe] prominently show the Fireside. In the film it was used as the headquarters of Boothe's character Det. Mace Ryan and his team.
In 2000, The Fireside earned a mention in the song "Goodbye Forever" by Chicago-based band, the Alkaline Trio. The song appears on the Alkaline Trio's self-titled album, and includes the line "Remember last April when we saw U.S. Maple? / Somehow the singer showed the Fireside exactly how I feel."
The bowling scenes from the 2006 film The Break Up, featuring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, were filmed at the Fireside.
