Parking Problems in Uptown, 1928

Anyone who lives near Broadway and Lawrence knows that parking can be tough when there is a concert at the Riv or Aragon. But parking problems are nothing new in Uptown, as this article from the October 18, 1928 edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune attests:

Ban Parking on Uptown Streets, Alderman's Plea

Aims Blast at Drivers from Farther North

Directing a broadside at automobile drivers of Evanston, Rogers Park, and North Edgewater, who, it is claimed, park their cars in the Uptown Chicago business district and then take the Wilson avenue elevated to the loop, Ald. Jobe A. Massen (49th) is seeking an ordinance to abolish parking in specified streets of the Uptown district. This measure, which is the first of its kind ever attempted, expresses the [unclear] of the Uptown businessmen.

Ald. Massen proposes to end this menance by precuring the [unclear] of the council of an ordinance prohibiting parking on Broadway between Montrose Avenue and Ainslie street, on Lawrence avenue between Magnolia and Hazel avenues, and Leland avenue between Broadway and Sheridan road, and on Wilson avenue between Magnolia and Hazel avenues, and would have the parking ban in effect between the hours of 7 and 10 am.

Ald. to Business Men

Enforcement of such an ordinance would, Ald. Massen determines, break up the current all day parking practice and would restore to the use of customers of Uptown Chicago business a tremendous amount of curb space during the course of every business day. At present, it is explained, this space is now used only for dead storage purposes.

"It must be remembered," Ald. Massen says, "that curb space used by an automobile parked all day is used only once during the day while curb space devoted to customers is used by many persons during the course of a day."

According to Ald. Massen, a recent [survey] of the automobiles parked on one side of Broadway in a block of Uptown Chicago established the fact that out of 20 cars found parked there early in the forenoon 14 were owned in Evanston and remained parked all day. He says there is no doubt drivers from Evanston, Rogers Park and North Edgewater are using the Wilson ave vicinity as a storage center.

Calls it a Difficult Problem

The traffic and parking problem is the most difficult local problem with which I am compelled to deal," declares Ald. Massen. "Scarcely a day goes by without some busines man urging me to procure the enactment of a no parking ordinance covering the stret immediately in front of his place of business.

"If I had acceded to every request of this sort, there would be no spot in the central Uptown business district where anyone could park. The average business man wants no one to park in front of his place of business, but seems to expect that parking be permitted everywhere in the vicinity of his place as long as it is in front of establishments conducted by other business men."

Green Mill Destroyed by Fire (Uptown Chicago Vintage News Articles)

From The Chicago Daily Tribune, April 27, 1933:

Acts to Rebuild Green Mill, Lost in $100,000 Fire
Six Firemen and Woman Spectator Injured

Plans were made yesterday to rebuild the Green Mill building, Broadway and Lawrence Avenue, which was destroyed in an early morning fire with an estimated damage of $100,000. Tom Chamales, owner of the two-story structure, announced that he planned to replace the building with one of similar proportions.

Six firemen were injured, one of them severely, and one woman was overcome with smoke in the blaze that started in a Walgreen Drug Store at 4800 Broadway. The fireman most seriously injured is Lt. James W. O'Malley of Engine 128, 5908 Leonard Street. His back was crushed and he suffered internal injuries.

Other Firemen Injured
The other firemen hurt are Oscar Stewart of Engine 128, 6124 Melrose Street; Fred Kinsler of Engine 128, 3007 Cullerton Street; Frank J. Kubik of Rescue Squad 4, 2508 North Menard Avenue, Lt. William Shay of Squad 4, 3230 Eastwood Avenue; Capt. Raymond J. Howe of Engine 70, 6419 North Albany Avenue.

Mrs. Ella Winters, 39 years old, 1001 Sunnyside Avenue, a spectator, was overcome by smoke and motor gas fumes and taken to the Lakeside Hospital for treatment.

Lt. O'Malley was injured when he went to the rescue of Fireman Kinsler, who was trapped beneath a pile of falling debris in the Green Mill Restaurant at 4806 Broadway. Lt. O'Malley was pinned to the floor as part of the roof gave way. Both men were carried to the street by rescue squads.

Half Dozen Shops Destroyed
The fire was discovered by workers in the drug store at 7 o'clock in the morning. It spread northward through the half block long structure, which extends to 4810 Broadway, and also damaged a Fannie May candy shop at 4812 Broadway. The Wolff Jewelry Shop, the Stop and Eat restaurant, the Excell Photo studio, and the Green Mill ballroom, all quartered in the building, were destroyed in the blaze. The fire was prevented from spreading to the Uptown Theatre, 4814 Broadway, firemen said, by the fire walls of the structure.