Why I Oughta...

This is the second (I think) season for this Maxine pop-up store that is housed in the Shaved Ice place on the west side of York Street right in the heart of the Elmhurst City Centre.  Seems like a pretty good use of the space for the winter as the shaved ice store closes down after Labor Day.   Maxine is only open October, November and December. Maybe they should be called "Purses, Purses, Purses"?  (Like, Closets, Closets, Closets?)

This morning, on the walk to the train, I spotted the new window all set up for the Uptown Shop.   It moved from around the corner last month .  They don't appear to have their sign up just yet, but there's plenty of Halloween what-have-yous in the windows.  Get in there, folks.

This notice was posted on the front windows of Cocomera - the yogurt shop on the east side of York right across for the York Theatre. I covered the opening of Cocomera back in August of 2012 here on the blog . Sad to see them go, but the space is huge (always seemed way to big for a yogurt shop!), so I'm hopeful that we'll get something interesting in that location soon. Here's a post that showed the space BEFORE Cocomera (it was a salon that failed) and talked about how Inland was marketing the place.   This is the second yogurt place to open and close in the City Centre.  The first was YogenFruz up the street.  This leaves TCBY (which I think is Nat's favorite of the three anyway!) as the last remaining location of the great early/mid-20-teens yogurt craze in Elmhurst.

Looks like the community in Elmhurst needs to step up and lend a hand to the American Legion Post #187 who wants to improve the Vietnam Memorial that currently sits in Wilder Park. I spotted this flyer on a local business in the Elmhurst City Centre on my walk to the train.  Here's (below) a closer look at details located at the bottom of the flyer: After 27 years of being weathered and worn, scratched and nicked, it's time for a granite base that would raise the memorial 30" above ground.  2015 marks the 50th Anniversary of ground forces arrival in Vietnam.  Funds are needed to preserve the memory of the 14 sons of Elmhurst who gave their lives for America in the Vietnam War.  Please send a contribution to:   The American Legion Post #187 Vietnam Memorial 310 W. Butterfield Rd Elmhurst, IL  60126-5017 I tell you what...this just seems like something we here in Elmhurst *have* to do, right?  I mean...how can we NOT do this as a community. No matter how you f

Tomorrow over by the Elmhurst History Museum there's what I *think* is the inaugural Elmhurst Craft Beer Fest being put on by the Elmhurst Heritage Foundation and the Rotary Club of Elmhurst.  $35 tickets for 18 tickets that are good for 3 oz samples.  18 x 3 = 54 ounces of beer.  That's 4.5 12 ounce beers for your $35.  Seems like a fair deal. I'd call this a nice addition to the event calendar in town.  Hoping it is a success and that it becomes a repeat event.   There's quite a few breweries represented.  No Solemn Oath, though?!?  But lots of big guys and some interesting ones like Nat's favorite Stone and Revolution from Chicago.  Good job by the organizers to get *so* many breweries/beers lined up.   From the Brew Fest's site: This is the current list logo's of participating breweries. Check back often! We continue to add to the list. Goose Island  Ommemgang  Boulevard Brewing Founders Brewing New Belguim Sam Adams Angry Orch

I spotted the coverings on the windows of the Elmhurst Uptown Shop a few days ago on my walk home from the train and feared they were gone. Turns out...they're NOT closing. Just moving around the corner up on York Street to the old Leonard's mens clothing store which is just north of the toy store and jewelry shop on the east side of the street.   Here's a post from October of last year showing the closing of Leonard's .  Seems like a better location traffic-wise, but a worse location parking-wise, right?  I always seemed to be able to nab a spot in the police lot or out on first.  York is a total crapshoot.  Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you end up circling down Addison a few times. The Uptown Shop's site says they're having a big moving sale today and should open soon around the corner: WE ARE MOVING our Elmhurst store   The MOVING SALE will be HUGE   We are closed starting Monday the 14th to prepare.   Sale is open to the public Thursda

Photo from the Elmhurst History Museum's Facebook page Yesterday's post about the Elmhurst History Museum's archives being used for economic development purposes by the City of Elmhurst got me to poke around the Elmhurst History Museum's site and Facebook page.  I ended up coming across this piece in the Chicago Tribune by Steve Johnson that covers his Top 10 picks for Fall Museum Trips . Included in there at $6 was the Elmhurst History Museum and their new Beer exhibit.   From the story : 6. "Beer Chicago: The Refreshing History": Lots of institutions these days do beer-themed events. This is all well and very good. But the Elmhurst Historical Museum had the bright idea to make an actual exhibition based on the sudsy stuff. The show's menu includes a beer-making station and the history of the city's beers, beermakers and taverns. There's also a tie-in with the Sept. 19 Elmhurst Craft Beer Fest, on the grounds of the museum. Sept. 18 to F

Last week, I wrote about how there's a new rendering of a new construction building on the old Plass Appliance store in the Elmhurst City Centre that portends a new four-story terraced structure with retail and street-level and condos on the upper floors. But that isn't the only thing that has been plastered on the windows of the old Plass store.  This new "Picture Yourself In Elmhurst" three-panel photo went up and is pretty cute.  It is a bunch of laborers who are installing street lights for the first time in town.  It evokes the same feeling of the lunch on top of skyscraper iconic photo for me. Here's a closer look at the white box on the right side that shows the reason for the billboard: Some of the #hashtags are interesting at the bottom.  #walkable #downtown #citycentre. Based on the email addresses, it plainly looks like the city's Economic Development group had the idea, but if look closely, it appears to be a nice little bit of inter

While we were wandering around town on Sunday, we came across the 'Explore Elmhurst Express' Trolley down on South York Street.  It is a nice addition that has run all summer.  It is winding down and will run it's last route on September 13th with stops around the City Centre and down near Spring/Vallette. I'm thinking that they're likely tracking usage so they can optimize the run times/routes if they decide to extend the service to the fall or next summer. From the City of Elmhurst's site : The City of Elmhurst is pleased to announce the Explore Elmhurst Express, a free trolley service connecting Elmhurst City Centre with the Spring Road and York and Vallette business districts. Take a stroll or hop on your bike and head for one of the nearest trolley stops. Convenient parking is also located near each stop.   It's a great way to shop and dine locally and enjoy the City's numerous cultural opportunities, while saving some gas and bringing sa

Last night we packed the kids up and went out to try Mod (or is it MOD?!?) Pizza on St. Charles Road near Route 83 in Elmhurst .  It is located in the same plaza as Total Hockey and Potbelly's on the south side of St. Charles. Mod Pizza is best described as "The Chipotle of Pizza"; meaning you walk along the line with the pizza maker as they assemble your pie based on your choice of ingredients.  Nat and I both got the 'Mod size', which is the normal size, but they also have a kids size that is a bit smaller. What's interesting is that DIRECTLY across the street from Mod is a newly opened PieFive Pizza - which, I think, is the exact same concept.  What happened with burgers three years ago (lots of burger places opened) and fro-yo two years ago (four fro-yo places opened in town!), appears to be happening with the quick-serve pizza concept.  We decided to try Mod first.  And it was pretty good - considering that they're just getting started with th

I spotted these booths laying on the sidewalk outside of 100 South Chop House and Grill this morning.  Coupled with the re-doing of the writing on the black awnings on the place has me wondering if they're doing one of those 'restaurant/bar rescues' where experts come in and overhaul the place and put in a new look/feel for restaurants. Have to admit...I've NEVER been in 100 South.  I also didn't think it wasn't in any trouble in terms of people patronizing the place.  So, I didn't think they'd *need* one of those 'rescues', right?  My sister and my nephew love the place.  I think they sit at the bar and love the service and food.  But...me?  Never been in there.  Just doesn't look like the type of place that we'd spend time in.   I'm probably wrong!  But, now with - what looks like - a new set of booths and furniture in the restaurant, maybe we need to visit? Does anyone know?  Was this taped for one of those 'rescue'

This morning, on my walk to the train, I spotted this rendering that is up on the windows of the old Plass store on York Street.  It shows a three-story mixed-use building and has an entry on the 'public walkway' to the north of the existing Plass building with an entrance for something called "York Condominiums". I covered the building back in February when they took the asbestos out of the first floor here on the blog . It looks to have a terraced elevation with the second and third floors receding backwards - which I think will help with the street presence.  I am, a bit bummed that they're going to be ripping down the Plass building - along with the sign.   Take a look at this post that shows the sign and the building . I know that government's role isn't to dictate to property owners what they can/should do with their property, but as the Elmhurst City Centre continues to evolve, I think we'll wish we had *more* of the old buildings that

Spotted this flyer in a City Centre business window recently for a BBQ competition on Sunday, September 6th.  The host is the Elmhurst Walk-In Ministry - which I have no idea where/what they are, but the fact that they're having a meat competition makes me interested.   And...frankly...this competition is a success by just having people like me head to their site and try to figure out what they're up to.  (Turns out, it sounds like a really great organization doing hard, necessary work !  Good for you guys!) The competition is set to take place in a spot that they're billing as "the Elmhurst City lot at the corner of York and Vallette", but I think that means it is in the lot behind (east) of those businesses at that intersection in the lot that hosts the Farmer's markets on Wednesdays. The Elmhurst Walk-In Ministry is  hosting a pdf on their website with the full rules and it appears that this is a true competition with judges and a 'clamshell tur

I *think* this is the parking deck topping out over on Addison Street in the Elmhurst City Centre.  I was walking down Schiller across from the Jewel and took this photo as I walked up to the light. When I say topping out, I think this is the total height of the new structure.  But there's still plenty of work left to be done to finish the construction. Here's a post from June of this year showing a different angle .  And here is a post showing the beginnings of the construction back in early May 2015 .

Back in June, I posted about the new "Art @ The York" film series at the York Theatre in the Elmhurst City Center .  Their first film was the Bansky movie "Exit through the Gift Shop". Walking by the theatre on my way to the train this am, I noticed they're advertising the next in the film series:  Little England. It is set to show on August 12th at both 1 pm and 7 pm. From the York Theatre's site  comes this synopsis of the movie: One home, one secret, one man, two sisters. The 20 year old Orsa is madly in love with the lieutenant Spyros Maltabes. As a closed character she won't reveal her secret to anyone. Her little sister, Moscha, dynamic and full of dreams wants to leave Andros, to escape the fate of the women of the island that marry sailors that are always away or drown at the sea. For their mother, Mina, wife of a captain who prefers the Atlantic Souf than his home, love means only big trouble and pain. Leaving aside the feelings of her

If you drive down York Road towards the City Centre these days you can't help but spot the big demolition job taking place on the west side just south of the CVS/Panera. Coming down are Pauli's gas station and a few other random buildings.  And in their place?  Something called the Elmhurst 255 built by Morningside USA .   From the listing on their site: 192 luxury rental units in downtown Elmhurst, two blocks from the Metra station 12,000 sf of new retail space available Spring 2016, with 150 public parking spaces and outdoor cafe seating. Divisible 1,400-6,000 sf. Click for more information . Public event plaza with bandshell A public bandshell?  That's pretty cool.  The City Center lacks one important feature that all downtowns *should* have:  a gathering place.  Think place to light the town Christmas tree (I know, I know...we do one down by the police station, but...that's not quite right.), have free concerts, show movies, etc.  This may solve that?

Over the weekend, I found myself in the little parking lot behind the businesses on York and Addison Streets in the Elmhurst City Centre.  What is (obviously) most striking about the space now is the towering garage that is being built right in the center of town. I posted about the beginnings of the deck going up in early May here .  There's been some discussion about the impact the garage is having on the 'skyline' but I for one, am just fine with it.  The long-term gain we'll get out of adding the much-needed parking in this huge deck will be a win for the Elmhurst City Centre and hopefully fuel some new additional commercial growth in our downtown.

Back in April of this year, The Runner's Soul closed on York Street in the Elmhurst City Centre  and consolidated their operations to their LaGrange store.  Now, just two and a half months later, it looks like we're getting a new tenant in the spot called The Pilates Room. They bill the store as "The Best in Classical Pilates and Movement Apparel" on the sign, but a little snooping around on the web shows that this is a current Elmhurst pilates place that is relocating and rebranding. From the Lifestyle Pilates site : A new space & a new name with same great pilates instruction...   The Pilates Room - Elmhurst!   A full-service pilates studio located in Elmhurst, IL. The studio offers private, semi-private and always small group instruction for mat & apparatus-based pilates. Looks like they were on the 3rd floor in the bank building on Schiller/York before and now they're moving down to street level.  Great to see a local small business

On my walk to the train this morning, I spotted this poster plastered up on one of windows of a downtown business in Elmhurst advertising a screening of a Banksy film called "Exit through the Gift Shop" at the York Theatre in the Elmhurst City Centre.   On the Classic Cimemas' site, they have a page set up talking about the event .  They're planning a series of these art shows with this first one screening on Wednesday, July 8th at 1 pm and 7 pm. In response to many requests over the years for more art at the York Theatre, we are beginning special screenings on the second Wednesday of every month. Join us at the York Theatre for the Art @ York presentation of Exit Through the Gift Shop shown on Wednesday, July 8th at 1:00 & 7:00 PM. General Admission. Come early for preshow entertainment at 12:30 PM on our baby Barton Theatre organ with Dave Rhodes, Tivoli Theatre house organist.   We need your help to make this successful by emailing, blogging and telling

A few weeks back, I posted the first photo of the 'changing skyline' of the Elmhurst City Centre from York Street.   But, I recently went down Addison Street and was confronted with a new 'look' of the parking deck from a new angle and had to take this photo you see above.  It certainly is pretty imposing compared to what was there (a parking lot).  The first section here went up really pretty fast as it appears they're mostly a bunch of pre-fab'd sections/panels.  There will be first floor retail/office, so I'm looking forward to seeing that part go up and see what it does to the downtown and in particular what impact it has on other/future growth along Addison Street.