Chicago It Up Not Opening

Chicago It Up, a Chicago style hot dog restaurant that has been advertised as opening in Murdale Shopping Center since 2015 apparently won't be opening up as the owner has skipped town and the installed equipment will be auctioned off to cover the unpaid rent. Meanwhile, if you have a taste for buying a hot dog from a cart, you can find Saluki Dogs ensconced at the intersection of Walnut and Illinois most week days.

Historic Park Advisory Committee

Did you know we have a Historic Park Advisory Committee? I sure didn't, but then I didn't even know we had a historic park. If you want to find out more, the next meeting is this Monday:

The Historic Park Advisory Committee, will be meeting on Monday, June 12, 2017 at 7:00 p.m., in the City Hall/Civic Center, Room 112, at 200 South Illinois Ave., Carbondale, IL 62901.

SIUC Museum Closing

In case you missed it, not only did the SIUC Univeristy Museum lose accreditation last March but the university announced today that it will close indefinitely starting July 1, due to lack of funding coming from the state. With a lack of funding coming for the Women's Center threatening its future operation and other state funded programs coming under the knife, the lack of a state budget is sure going to do some long term damage to the state.

Sidetracks Demolished

In case you missed the news today, Carbondale's iconic bar, Sidetracks, got demolished today to make way for downtown parking. Despite the way it sounds, there really wasn't much choice in the matter. The bar's lease expires in 2019 and the railroad, on whose right of way the Sidetracks building sat, had already said it would not renew the lease as the building sat too close to the tracks for safety.

So, Sidetracks gets help from the city to move across the street into new digs in the old Gatsby's building, the city gets some much needed downtown parking just in time for all of the expected visitors coming into town for the Great American Eclipse and the railroad has one less liability it has to worry about. Save for the fact that Carbondale has one less unique building, and there was no really feasible way to move the building, everybody comes out ahead.

Concert Updates

Received this press release from the city regarding ShadowFest. From what I understand, most, if not all of the bands are out of St. Louis so not the nationally known acts originally planned.  Given the number of bands playing in Carbondale, I wonder if any outreach has been made to them to at least open.

Six vibrant performances, two days of music and one FREE weekend of fun. The City of Carbondale and Carbondale Main Street are excited to announce the lineup for Shadow Fest.

The festival kicks off on Saturday, August 19 with performances by American Idiot, a tribute to Green Day; Big Love, a tribute to Fleetwood Mac; and Elevation, a tribute to U2.

On Sunday, August 20, it’s all about the 80s. Johnny Rock-itt, That 80s Band and Superjam will take to the stage for the ultimate 80s experience. Festival goers can expect to hear hits from Kiss, AC/DC, Journey, Madonna, Prince and more.

Concerts will be held along Washington Street, between Walnut and Main Streets, from 5-11 p.m. Admission to all of the concerts is free.

To learn more about the bands performing at Shadow Fest, visit the American Bands Entertainment website at http://ambandsentertainment.com/.

Eclipse Meetings

For those wanting to keep up with what the city and university have planned for the Carbondale Eclipse, there were be two open forums this month on on the 20th and the second on the 22nd. Given that we have a projected 50,000 additional people descending on town the weekend before SIUC starts, knowing what is going on might prove helpful

Eclipse Music Festival

The city is going in a "different direction" for the proposed Eclipse Music Festival. No idea as to what that direction is though. Hopefully they are in contact with some of the event bookers for the local bars as well as whomever is in charge of booking acts for the Arena and Shryock Auditorium, as well as the Carbondale Music Coalition. Better to work with people who have already done what you want to do, rather than starting from scratch.