Good-bye Teehan's!

This historic downtown Tinley Park business is slated for demolition.
(Shown here in daylight hours unfamiliar to band members.)

The Tinley Park “Arts Alive” Community Band takes pride in our role as a supporter of local businesses, and one of the most notable is Teehan's Tap, a Tinley Park landmark and the site of our post-rehearsal activities for just about every Monday night since the band was founded in 1987.

So we are sad to report that the Village of Tinley Park will be leveling the entire block at North Street and Oak Park Avenue so it can be redeveloped as part of the village's plan for a downtown business complex called Tinley Park Place, complete with modern high-rise luxury condominiums, retail storefronts, an underground parking garage and a multi-screen Cineplex-style movie theater.

As you may have figured out, we have a few problems with this:

• We like Teehan's! It is one of the last of the true neighborhood bars, patronized by blue-collar workers, college students and longtime village residents. It isn't some trendy mass-market fake created to lure yuppies by some corporation's marketing department.
  
  
• Teehan's likes us...especially on those cold winter nights when the kids are back at school and most everyone else is at home..and the place belongs to the band. They also like that we usually clean up after ourselves and don't destroy the restrooms.
  
  
• Teehan's is historic, having been around almost forever in one of Tinley Park's oldest and most beautifully renovated, buildings.

Unfortunately “progress” has more weight then sentiment in our society, so the historic Teehan's will itself soon be history. Hopefully, the new residents and businesses may eventually benefit the community and the band, but the friendliness of Teehan's and its staff will not easily be replaced.

As the clock gets closer to closing time, the band hopes to announce one “final call,” perhaps with one of our famous "unapproved" Arts Alive! Jazz Band appearances. Check our website often to catch the details when they are released.

Demolition was tentatively scheduled for Fall of 2007, but as of late December, Teehan's still stands. If you would like to see what “progress” looks like, go to the special page on the Village of Tinley Park's web site.

The band is looking for a new post-rehearsal meeting place. The only requirements are that it must serve cold adult beverages, be friendly, local, affordable, clean and not so loud you can't hold a conversation. If you have an establishment that is open Monday evenings and are interested in some steady customers, please E-mail us at artsaliveband@yahoo.com