A little piece of Uptown history disappeared recently when the Rainbo Roller Rink, 4836 N. Clark, was demolished, though the name will live on in the two-acre housing development that’s replacing it.
“Rainbo Village” will rise on the site of the Rainbo Gardens Building, which over the years served as sports arena, rock venue and most recently, a roller skating rink. The site, at Lawrence and Clark, is slated for 127 condos and townhouses and 15,000 square feet of retail space.
Metropolitan Development Enterprises already has seen strong interest in the planned homes, according to Bruce Zimmerman, vice president of sales and marketing.
“We’ve had an incredible number of calls,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a substantial-sized parcel of property compared to most infill sites in the neighborhood, over two acres and 127 units. We’re getting a diverse group of people for a diverse type of product.”
The developer plans to open a sales trailer on site and begin construction in June. Condominiums at Rainbo Village will start in the $190s and townhouses with two or three bedrooms will range from the upper $500s to the upper $600s. Designed by architects Pappageorge Haymes, the community will be open, with a central courtyard, landscaping, benches and a monument to the old Rainbo constructed of materials saved from its façade.
Zimmerman is aware of the building’s long history and place in local memories, but he said, the structure had suffered such neglect, rehabbing it wasn’t an option.
“I’ve heard about it from everyone, including my wife,” Zimmerman said. “She used to ice skate there when she was five years old, and she said, ‘no, you’re taking away my Rainbo.'”
As early as 1894, the site of the Rainbo held a small restaurant and later, it became a popular beer garden and picnic grove. A second floor, a bowling alley and an outdoor dance floor later were added, and the place was rebuilt as a grand two-story restaurant and dance hall in 1921. An ice skating rink was installed in 1957 and the space hosted everyone from the Rolling Stones to Bruce Springsteen as the Electric Theater and the Kinetic Playground.
Zimmerman, however, hopes the development of Rainbo Village will start a new chapter in the history of Uptown as well as the prominent site.
“This is an area where redevelopment is not just starting to occur, but to occur on a grander scale,” Zimmerman says. “Andersonville is close by, walking distance from Rainbo Village, and everyone knows the name. Close by is Lakewood (Balmoral), which also has gone through transitional periods over the last decades. I’m not certain why this hasn’t occurred in Uptown before, but it’s really making a move in the last couple of years.”