It’s a really nice place. Half of it is a coffeeshop, and in the back, there’s a stage and seating. They used to have Open Mic Nights on the last Thursday of the month, which would also appear on Channel 17 (Public Access) and a really cool place right by my house, not too far from Downtown.
After COVID, it would open up, then close up (no business, I reckon). I’ve kept my eye out for events, or any news and see nothing but the hours, which are pretty sorry… 10-2, 3 days a week.
Anyway, for a while, I’ve thought how much of a pity it is for it to be discarded, and planning to go there when they open on Friday and ask the owner if he’d ever consider using it for a sound studio, for music, or whatever. I haven’t sat down and come up with figures, pricing, or the details, but receptive to any ideas you might know that happens in your area. There’s a lot of musicians who might want to upload something “professional” onto YouTube, etc., or voice-over, and I have the equipment, but I’m just thinking of the many different ways, or possibly additional ideas, such as a place to film some short (or long) movies, anything artistic… The main reason I haven’t done so already is my suspicion the place is so bad they’re open for 12 hours a week just to be above water, but that’s another angle of mine, that I’d be willing to receive a portion of profits, whatever. I’ve been in business before, but I’d be willing to try.
One restaurant I miss that the pandemic killed was Ronny’s Steak House in downtown Chicago.
It was in the Thompson center, and had the best steak dinners for cheap than anywhere.
Sad to see. I kept thinking about the possibilities, but also, “Wouldn’t they do something if they could?”… Maybe I’ll just call tomorrow first. I’ve rehearsed enough.
We lost a really cool, special little brewery called Spigot. One of the things that made Spigot special was how tiny it was. And it had no outdoor seating due to zoning. Unfortunately, COVID did not treat tiny indoor businesses well.
Converting an existing space to be a serious, properly sound-proofed studio for pro-level audio recording would be a very expensive proposition. You have to isolate the recording space from all structure-borne vibration, essentially building a box within the building. It will need its own special (quiet) air handling system, and the complications just go on and on.
Then there’s the question of whether your community could financially support a new studio, or whether there are existing studios that are adequately supplying the market.
I suppose you’re right. My background in audio engineering goes back more than fifty years, and I haven’t been actively involved much in the last few decades.
Nevertheless, it seems to me that a cafe-cum-recording studio would face issues a bedroom/basement studio wouldn’t: industrial equipment (HVAC, freezers, fridges, etc.), kicking in at random times, creating acoustic and electrical noise; street sounds from vehicles and passersby; would-be customers rattling the doors, wanting to get in.
On the face of it, the combination doesn’t seem very practical to me on general principles, but I’m obviously not aware of the specific details of this site that may not have those issues.
That said, drawing up a business plan that would outline all the factors needed to make it all work profitably is still a good idea.
People have not bounced back to gathering in person just in general after the pandemic. My wife works in the Museum world and attendence to date has not come fully back. In our area while a lot restaurants weathered the storm and remained open many of the events they used to have never came back. Maybe this stuff just takes longer to return or maybe it’s something that will never be quite the way it was. I am sure either way there is probably a career’s worth of Sociological research on the concept that can and will be done.