Vacant storefronts are one of the worst aspects of urban blight. Aside from their shabby, defeated appearance, vacant storefronts generate no foot traffic, and pedestrians are what give life to city life. So it’s always good news when a street level location, long empty, gets a new tenant. That’s why the relocation of The Chicago Music Exchange from its longtime location on Clark Street — behind one of the coolest terra cotta facades in the city [and you know how much we like terra cotta] — to the 3300 block of Lincoln Avenue is kind of a mixed blessing.
Since the graphic design firm which last occupied the space split the scene [maybe two years ago], this space has been dark and gloomy. But the musical instrument vendor has restored some of its vitality. You’ve just got to wonder, though, what they had in mind by replacing the original facade with the surface of slate tiles, which would probably be nice on the floor, but seem inappropriate as a cladding material. And couldn’t somebody have addressed the spray-painted tags smeared all over the second story level? Where are Da Mare’s Graffiti Busters when you need them? Evidently they can’t reach above the ground floor.