Congress Theater COULD be closing its doors if it fails to impress the city during its next court hearing on April 23. Till then Congress is allowed to stay open but that all could change after that date. The city’s main concern is safety and Congress Theater failed several building violations during its inspection on 4/17.

Information taken from an online Chicago Tribune article found here: LINK

This isn’t news as Congress Theater and owner Eddie Carranza have been receiving heat from the city since that Rusko NYE event a year ago after which a girl was sexually assaulted a few blocks away from Congress. Couple that with numerous complaints from neighboring residents for noise, crude behavior by patrons and kids’ parents complaints about their kids consuming alcohol (among  other things) at the venue and it’s no surprise this is a possibility. Last summer Congress Theater had several meetings with local government officials to see what they can do to improve their situation with the community. This included bumping up security, some renovations and what seems to be a curfew on shows being scheduled during the week. I must give credit where credit is due and I’ll admit when going to congress for Alesso last week I felt much safer than in the past. You can see a larger security presence all around the venue and I’ve seen several people be escorted out for different reasons. All this public heat is only for the best in the long run and even though I know young ragers will be upset if Congress were to close, I think a change of ownership would be a good thing. There are other venues in Chicago (maybe not with a 4500 capacity) that React Presents can throw their parties at. No need to panic Chicago.