Southport Lanes closed for good after nearly 100 years, will auction famous sign

LAKEVIEW Southport Lanes, the historic restaurant and bowling alley in Lakeview, will not reopen after all since the owners decided the business had no viable path to recover from the pandemic.

Southport Lanes, located at 3325 N. Southport Ave., has been closed since September. The owners announced on Wednesday that they will be auctioning everything inside and outside the building, including the famous sign.

Owner Steve Soble declined to comment and referred all questions to spokesperson Lacey Irby.

Unfortunately, the property doesn’t see this business recover soon and so Southport Lanes is closed permanently, Irby said.

Everything within the company, including the pool tables, bowling equipment, signs and other memorabilia, will be auctioned online in July 1320, according to a to post from Glenview-based Winternitz Industrial Auctioneers & Valuers.

This was clearly a very difficult decision, but after much thought, the building owner has decided to go this route to auction the assets for Southport Lanes, Irby said.

Soble announced in September that the 99-year-old bar would likely close for good. Neighbors devastated by the news in Southport Lanes last night to pay tribute to Chicago’s bar history.

Then, in January, Soble unexpectedly announced that there was a chance to reopen after receiving a $70,000 Business Interruption Grant. But the funding was not enough to fully resume operations.

Credit: Justin Laurence/Block Club Chicago

Southport Lanes has long been part of Chicago lore, given its history as a classic tavern that turned into a speakeasy and brothel during Prohibition.

The bar was built around 1900 by Schlitz Brewery and named The Nook. But in 1922, federal law banned brewers from owning taverns, so the name was changed to Southport Lanes and four hand-set bowling lanes were added.

The tavern became a speakeasy in the 1920s with an upstairs brothel, according to the Southport Lanes website. The building still has a dumbwaiter that was used to bring refreshments to the women and their customers.

When Prohibition ended, a building was built east of the bar, which Southport Lanes used as a billiard room. This building originally housed an illegal gambling facility, then in the 1950s it became a rental beer hall and a local polling station.

Soble said they knew nothing about the Southport Lanes off-track gambling den until they pulled the telephone wires out some time after he bought the bar and grill from its former owner, Leo Beitz.

He also told me there was a secret room where, according to legend, Mayor Anton Cermak would hold a weekly poker game, Soble said earlier.

Since Soble bought the business in 1991, Southport Lanes has also hosted memorable guests such as the entire Cubs team for a surprise party for Ryan Dempster in 2004 and actor Al Pacino while in town filming the 1992 drama Glengarry Glen Ross. .

Jake Wittich is aReport for Americacorps member covering Lakeview, Lincoln Park and the city’s LGBTQ communities for Block Club Chicago.

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