Post #294712 by Tonga Trader on Mon, Mar 26, 2007 10:06 AM

I didn't want to be so quick to dismiss this place. It's across the alley from the former offices of the Chicago Defender newspaper. I also remembered from before, there was a high-quality sign on the fence to the parking lot on the corner to the north that read Chicago Defender and Tiki Room Parking. Drove by yesterday and that sign is gone. Maybe there was some connection? Maybe it was just a bar where the newspaper folks hung out? You gotta have one of those, right? Either way, it seems doubtful the paper would associate with the likes of a ghetto dive bar. Perhaps you should check with the paper, James, since you have a legit reason to do so. They do list an archivist on their webstie.

Next, I did a search on Chicago Defender + Tiki Room and found out the "famous" Tiki Room building is for sale for $1.8 million:

http://www.loopnet.com/Listings/[email protected]

Somebody should dust off their letter of credit and get in for a showing and do some urban archaeology. Heck, there's a lot of new development right there on Michigan Avenue, and the McCormick Place expansion has crept within a block of it...

TT