The Fireside Bowl
Coordinates: 41°55′29.94″N 87°41′38.85″W / 41.9249833°N 87.6941250°W
Fireside Bowl (or Fireside) is a bowling alley and music venue established in the 1940s, located at 2648 W Fullerton Ave in Chicago, Illinois.
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 Fireside was expanded by four lanes bringing the total to 16.
The Fireside Bowl was owned and operated by Hank Sophie until 1966 when Rich Lapinski and Alec "Mac" McGuire bought the bowling alley from an ailing Hank Sophie. Lapinski and McGuire operated it together until 1971 when Lapinski bought out McGuire. 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 showcase live music on a part-time basis in 1994.
While the bowling lanes were used less and less, music was filling in on more nights. There was still bowling on a few nights, in particular the Bucktown Bowling League made up of several neighborhood establishments took to the lanes every Monday night as they had been doing for many years. However, music was now the primary focus.
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.
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