Grant Street is going to get another big, big boost. Upon pulling up to Sweet_ness 7 Café (S7) for a meeting yesterday, I noticed that the old tabernacle building located next door (attached to the café) was getting some serious love. There were new window repairs (the boards were removed and windows fixed) and it looked like someone (most likely Prish Moran, owner of the building and S7) was busy getting the place up and running. Last year I wrote that Prish was planning on moving forward with a meeting hall, with dancing and a marketplace. Since that time she has landed a liquor license for her S7 operation, and has seen that there is a need for a different type of social hang-out in the neighborhood.
When I spoke to Prish, she told me that the plans for the tabernacle building had changed a bit, but that she still intended to create a social destination in the building. “The windows are in and the color is going up next week!” Prish announced. “Brazilian color scheme – metal lettering. “The Tabernacle” [is what it will be called]. I’m excited and am hoping for a holiday opening. It’s going to be a giant bar with a stage, Kittinger church pews up front and café tables in back – a community event space. Renaissance meets techno… funny bit of history – Kittinger financed the building of the church in 1922!”
And there you have it. Another awesome performance venue coming to the West Side, attached to an already successful business. It’s the natural culmination of a thriving cultural scene that has already been established at the corner of Grant and Lafayette by one instrumental go-getter named Prish Moran. Pretty cool if you ask me.