Construction on Rainbo Village has made steady progress, at least since I last checked on the project in January. Now that a second, northern building has its brick shell, the tenor of the entire block has shifted – for the better, in my view.
I’ve always been a bit nostalgic for the old Rainbo roller rink that used to occupy the site. And since I live just around the corner, I worry about the parking hassles that might come with Rainbo Village’s 127 new homes (although the plan calls for an underground parking garage).
But Rainbo Village is already giving the stretch of Clark Street just north of Lawrence Avenue new life. Because St. Boniface cemetery is across the street, the buildings’ five stories don’t seem overwhelming – in fact, their height gives the block a solidity and an emphasis it didn’t have before. The other, more worn-in buildings, like the Mexican restaurant on the southeast corner of Clark and Lawrence, have some fresh context, making me appreciate them all the more (by the way, I hear that restaurant is amazing).