![]() ![]() Still, Johnson said he knew Fireside wasn't going to be around for forever. Most of their fans are too young to get into clubs, and they are too. For example, he's got one all-girl punk band called The Groodies who are only 18 years old. The closing creates some obstacles for bands on his label and other local punk groups trying to build a following of fans, he said. "I don't think he knows what he had in the Fireside and what the Fireside meant to people," Johnson said. ![]() Mike Johnson, who runs a local punk record label called Failed Experiment Records, said although he's disappointed that Fireside is becoming a bowling alley, he doesn't fault Lapinski for deciding to change. "There were people upset, but I gave it 10 years and it's time to do something different," Lapinski said. He knows some people will be disappointed that the Fireside rock shows are gone, but he says the kids who went there will find a new place to hang out. "It won't be all ages anymore," Lapinski said. ![]() The shows will be different too-older and milder than the punk shows of the past. The major focus will be bowling, he said, and music will be offered only when it doesn't interfere with that. He plans to continue offering live music, but not as frequently as before. Fireside Bowl has been in his family 40 years. "It's time for me to do some changes," said Lapinski, who started letting shows play there 10 years ago because the bowling business was getting slow. He was able to pick up some equipment-automatic scoring machines and ball lifts-when another bowling alley closed down. But once it was clear the expansion wasn't happening, he moved forward with the rehab, he said. He wasn't going to invest money in fixing the place up if it was going to be torn down. In fact, the park expansion plan kept owner Jim Lapinski from going back to bowling earlier. Several years ago, the Chicago Park District expressed an interest in using eminent domain to take over the building to expand nearby Haas Park. The change may have been abrupt for some-there were no big announcements about the switch-but rumors of Fireside's demise have been swirling for years. ![]()
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