United Center

United Center continued...

 

 

On the base of the 12-foot statue (17, including that base) is this inscription: "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be." It was unveiled in 1994.

Ashland Avenue, four blocks east of the arena, is home to Union Park and several buildings belonging to labor unions (see especially the union-related murals on Ashland and Carroll Avenue and another at Ashland and Monroe Street). A nearby mural at 340 S. Paulina Street celebrates the Teamsters.

The park's name actually pre-dates the labor unions' arrival. It was named in 1853 in honor of the Federal Union, and for a time after the end of the Civil War became a lure for wealthy merchants who built grand homes on a widened Ashland Avenue. Some of the homes are labor union headquarters today, and two extraordinary churches remain from that era: First Baptist Congregational (1869) and Church of the Epiphany (1885). In the modern era, the park has been a gathering point for activist rallies and a venue for music performers; it's home of the annual Pitchfork Music Festival, held in July.

Here's another nugget. Ogden Avenue, which cuts through the southwest corner of the neighborhood, was part of the historic Route 66 highway -- "The Mother Road" -- that originally stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles. There are markers.

A few restaurants are within the neighborhood's boundaries. Moretti's, a local pizza chain, has a location on Jackson Boulevard a couple of blocks southwest of the arena; not far, the Billy Goat Inn, which has roots near here but relocated years ago to its main location in the Magnificent Mile neighborhood, is back -- at last count, one of six "Goats." Angel's, a Mexican restaurant on Ashland Avenue, has a pleasant patio when the weather cooperates; just north is Bombon Cafe, for lighter Mexican fare and pastries.

On Western Avenue are a couple of sandwich options. Moon's Sandwich Shop, a half-mile directly west of the United Center, has been here since 1933; other locations came and went, but this one won't go away. Only a couple of years old, Felony Franks, at Western and Jackson, features the usual Chicago sandwiches but not the usual names. An Italian sausage is a "Solitary Sausage"; Italian beef is "Burglar Beef"; combined them, and you have a Court Ordered Combo.

More restaurants are several blocks east in the Greektown and Little Italy neighborhoods and, increasingly, in the West Loop neighborhood, whose loft apartments and restoration of classic residences is creating a bridge to what was once an isolated Near West Side.

Renovations just west of United Center parking lots, notably along Adams and Monroe Streets, are breathing life into those areas as well.

So this is a neighborhood experiencing a second transition: The first was from the old Stadium to a new United Center, which was relatively easy; the second is in progress.

 

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For more information about the United Center neighborhood, please contact the Near West Side Community Development Corporation at 312.738.2280.