And Broadway-Fillmore Alive’s Christopher Byrd isn’t happy about it. BFA works hard to preserve what they can in the neighborhood, and is pretty reasonable when a building is past the point of saving, understanding that not all is salvageable in a once-bustling area with a drastically dropped population.
In this case, however, the BFA wasn’t even aware it was going — until it was gone. Once home to the Polish Villa, and then Shadrack’s Nite Club, the building has been razed and all that remains are the memories and a clearer view of the OTB next door.
This brings up a question; should the City notify community groups like BFA before a building gets demoed? In these Preservation Board meeting notes from August 2nd, 2007, the demo was tabled and sent to committee for review. It’s anyone’s guess what happened between then and now.
Image from BFA site.