photograph: alex garcia/chicago tribune

The Thalia Hall at 18th Street and Allport Street in Pilsen.

Empty Bottle and Longman & Eagle owner, Bruce Finkelman, has plans to turn the historic Thalia Hall in Pilsen into a nightclub.

Crain’s reported this morning that Finkelman holds a contract to buy the four-story building on 18th Street (asking price $3.5 million). But acquiring a city license and gaining approval for renovation plans on the building, designated a landmark since 1989, might slow him down.

The 121-year-old hall has a theater, a two-story restaurant, three retail spots and eight apartments. There was a good piece about the 1892 building's modern real estate saga in the Reader a few years ago. 

If all goes well this time around, Finkelman’s new club could help turn Pilsen—and 18th Street in particular—into a nightlife hotspot. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you, Bruce.