Southport Lanes & Billiards, the century-old Lakeview institution that in September announced its permanent closure because of the coronavirus pandemic, may live to bowl another round.
Owner Steve Soble said he got word just after Christmas that his business was approved for a $70,000 state grant. With that money, plus the potential for more federal small business aid approved under the new COVID-19 relief legislation, he is hopeful Southport Lanes will be able to reopen this spring.
“It was a total life preserver thrown our way,” said Soble, who has owned the business since 1991. “I’m shocked, I’m elated and relieved and happy and very fortunate.”
The news was “magical,” Soble, said, after he had been denied other city and state grants and bills were coming due that he wasn’t going to be able to pay. Soble, who owns part of the property, said insurance costs have been particularly difficult.
The ability to reopen will depend on COVID-19 caseloads, the vaccination rollout and the state lifting restrictions on indoor service, Soble said. It won’t make sense to reopen until the restaurant can host people for bowling and parties, he said.
“We still have a long way to go,” Soble said. “I’m very optimistic that by late spring and early summer that we will be in a much different place in the world and the city.”
Block Club Chicago first reported the news of Southport Lanes possibly reopening.
Southport Lanes has been closed since Sept. 28, and Soble didn’t expect it would reopen because it was losing so much money during the pandemic. Business was down 85% when it was trying to serve people just outside.
Fans mourned the end of a colorful era for the restaurant and bar, which was established in 1922 and at turns has been a brothel, a speak-easy and an illegal off-track horse-betting site. Originally known as the Nook, the structure was built around 1900 by Schlitz Brewery, which constructed several brew houses in Chicago.
Southport Lanes currently has four bowling lanes, with pins still set by hand by “pin boys,” and six billiards tables. Before the pandemic, a quarter of its revenue came from bowling and pool, another quarter from the restaurant and a half from the bar, Soble said.
Soble had planned to sell the contents of the business in case someone else wanted to give it a shot, but “you will not be surprised to find out that we have no one who is interested,” he said.
Without the state’s Business Interruption Grant, he said, he would not be able to give it another shot himself. A loan he received under the federal Paycheck Protection Program early in the pandemic sustained the business for only a couple of months. Government data show Southport Lanes received a $200,000 PPP loan to help preserve 20 jobs.
Upon reopening, Southport Lanes plans to hire back all employees but will likely use technology more than before to limit interactions between staff and customers, including having customers order and pay on their phones, Soble said. He also plans to keep the 18% service charge he introduced last summer as he tries to move away from a business model that relies on tipping.
Soble also owns the Daily Bar & Grill in Lincoln Square and District Brew Yards in the West Loop, which are operating for takeout and outdoor dining when weather permits, and Seven Ten Lanes in Hyde Park, which is temporarily closed. Though they are losing a lot of money, those businesses are holding on thanks to rent breaks from landlords, he said.
