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NEIGHBORS FIGHT TO KEEP BLUES CLUB
Chicago SunTimes
December 11, 2003
BY CURTIS LAWRENCE
Even when the neighborhood was down on its luck, the Checkerboard Lounge on 43rd Street was able to attract the likes of the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, who felt honored to play on the stage that Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and many others made famous.
But Wednesday, neighbors and community activists accused the University of Chicago of stealing the legendary club known as the "Home of the Blues" by luring its owner to Hyde Park.
"It's an actual theft of the authentic cultural experience," said Harold Lucas, president of the Black Metropolis Convention and Tourism Council, who attended a noon protest at the university.
The club's longtime owner, L.C. Thurman, has signed a letter of intent with the university that could move Thurman and the Checkerboard name to a space owned by the university at the north end of a mall at 53rd and Harper. While the university would not comment on specifics on the tentative deal, Thurman said it included rent of only $7 a square foot and a promise by the university to pay for remodeling at the Harper's Court mall location. The proposed rent at the new location wasn't disclosed, but Thurman said it would be significantly less than the $15-a-square-foot deal -- nearly $3,875 a month -- proposed by the owner of the present location.
The Checkerboard, which rents the space on 43rd Street, was closed last spring because of several building code violations, many involving the roof, which is in severe disrepair. Building owner Murphy Hughes has been given until next July to make repairs.
Bernard Loyd, one of the leaders of the protest, accused the university of breaking an earlier promise to work with the community to keep the Checkerboard on 43rd.
"They chose to surreptitiously make an offer to get the Checkerboard out of Bronzeville," Loyd said. "If that's not stealing, it's pretty close."
Sonya Malunda, a university spokeswoman, bristled at the "stealing" references by Loyd and others during the protest.
"We contacted Mr. Thurman because we didn't want to see this very important cultural institution leave the South Side," said Malunda, who got into a heated debate with Loyd during the protest. "This is a case of no good deed going unpunished."
Thurman, 65, who has clashed with Hughes in the past, said the deal was too good to turn down.
"I've done tried for five years to fix it up so it could stay there forever," Thurman said. "I've got to look out for me. I'm an older man."
Thurman said the neighborhood support to keep him on 43rd Street was too little, too late.
Most of the two dozen people who came to protest the university "ain't been in the club to buy one beer," he said.
Loyd said his anger was directed at the university, not Thurman.
"L.C. Thurman is not the problem," Loyd told other protesters as he emerged from an unsuccessful attempt to meet with university President Don Randel, who was not in his office. "We appreciate the fact that [Thurman] has to make the right economic decision for himself."
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Tele! Call your congressman!
We cannot let this happen 
(This guy Thurman, needs a beating...) |
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| SHINE A LIGHT |
 it's an historic place. shame! |
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CHAT
ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]