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5/13/03:

More on Hothouse...

WBEZ this morning mentioned both the closing of Hothouse and the nearby Buddy Guy's Legends. The first was ordered closed by the Department of Revenue for licensing problems, the latter by the Board of Health because rats were found near the kitchen. The Chicago Tribune has finally run a story about both clubs [login:Betacorpo pw:Betacorpo]. A Chicago Sun-times article only mentions Buddy Guy's but ran a small summary of the incident last Sunday.

According to the Tribune article, Hothouse only had a theatre performance license that allowed limited liquor sales. The owner's response is that "there's really some technical issue with a license, the appropriate way to handle it is for the city to make a call during business hours and request that we take care of the problem."

The Chicago Tribune also adds that controversy behind the band at Hothouse last Friday - Orquesta Aragon, who apparently "sparked past protests from anti-Castro forces in Chicago" - factored into the decision. The city flatly denies this. From talking to others, some suggest that the city is trying to save face after the E2 nightclub disaster earlier this year where 21 people were killed in a stampede that was exacerbated by numerous building code violations. However, these situations have hardly a thing in common.

posted by jeremy @ 8:22 PM

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