-- From the Rolling Stones to Chance the Rapper, it's been years since musicians performed at the iconic Double Door theater in Wicker Park.
-- Plans have been in the works to reopen the shuttered venue in Uptown. CBS2's Noel Brennan caught up with the owners who are hoping to revive Double Door inside an Historic Place.
( o )
"I'm the Hardware, he's kind of the Software and We fuse together perfectly."
"I like that."
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna use that."
"Yeah, it's yours."
"Well, it's Ours."
Business partners riff... like they're bandmates.
"Keith Richards and Mic Jagger were referred to as the Glimmer Twins in the early Stones era. So since we're basically the same age, we have taken the mantle and we're running with it.
The Glimmer Twins."
Sean Malroney.
"I had the space..."
and Pete Bruce... give each other credit where credit is due.
"Sean's just genius with music. I don't have an ounce of musical ability in my whole body."
"He's the guy who rolls up his sleeves and knocks **** down and punches holes in things."
They're putting their talents together. Here. In Uptown.
"The Wilson Theater, built in 1909 as a Vaudeville burlesque theater, but then in 1919 the building was converted into a bank."
A bank it's been. Until friends bought it.
"So they gave us a price. Pete went in and said "I have this, I'll offer ya this" and they took it."
Sean and Pete needed a space to reintroduce Double Door.
"We did every style of music, every way of music. We did over 250 or 60 shows a year."
"Rolling Stones. Smashing Pumpkins who played here (there) 5 times. Double Door was known internationally and I can assure you that that's the case."
The music venue that Sean helped open in 1994 had a home in Wicker Park until 2017 when a dispute with the landlord lead to an eviction and the eventual sale of the building.
"Realizing the impact the Double Door had on other people's lives... I didn't have any clue about until we closed."
(He he he he he)
"It feels like a knuckle-breaker."
(Ha ha ha!)
But for the past three years, they've been working on a second act.
"We're going to keep the Grunge that was Double Door. It has to be... We're a Dirty Rock Club."
"It's just a place to be yourself... and to Just Be."
The first step in making this a music venue requires Breaking the Bank... Literally.
[bzzzzz]
"I wake up every morning and just can't wait to get to work and figure out what I'm gonna...
[clank]
Demolition today."
Pete has done most of the Demo work...
[clash]
Solo.
"These are parts to a 1919 vault door that weighed 8 tons... and there was approximately 2400 pieces to this door and I dismantled it piece-by-piece."
A process as lengthy as waiting on the City to approve a design.
"Because this is a historic building, we had to go through the Landmark's approval. The extensive research and investigation they had to do structurally was... you know, was time consuming."
As of December, they have permits for construction, but they're holding out hope for a grant.
"We have had had incredible input and feedback from the City of Chicago with their Cultural Recovery Grant which is federally funded."
This duo won't give up on opening doors... to the Double Door Theater.
"Late '24/Early '25."
You can take that to the bank!
"Anybody needs their old vault broken into, call me. I can do it."
Noel Brennan CBS2 News.
