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The
Rainbo Gardens Building
4812-36
N. Clark St., Chicago
Built 1928
This distinctive red brick and terra cotta building was demolished November
2003 for a 127-unit residential project scheduled to be constructed on the
site. Host to a variety of amusements and some of the early twentieth
century's best-known celebrities, Rainbo Gardens was one of Chicago's
premier
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recreation and entertainment venues. As early as 1894, the site was
occupied by a small roadside restaurant. Later, it was the site of one of
the city’s most frequented summer beer gardens and picnic groves, popular
prior to the days of air conditioning. Shortly after the end of the First
World War, Chicago restaurateurs Fred and Al Mann bought the building and
changed the name of the place to Rainbo Gardens.
It was at the Rainbo Gardens that vaudevillians Ted Healy and Moe Howard
asked Larry Fine to join their comedy act eventually to become “The Three
Stooges”. In 1927/1928, the outdoor gardens were converted into an indoor
sports arena, first hosting jai alai and later wrestling. In 1957 an ice
skating rink was installed and since then roller skating and rock concerts
have been its main attractions. In the recent past the building hosted such
acts as the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, REO Speedwagon and Led
Zeppelin, in the “Electric Theater” and the “Kinetic Playground".
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