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Congress Theater Shows Canceled, Postponed Due to New Construction Problem

 The Congress Theater.
The Congress Theater.
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Flickr/pauldavidy

LOGAN SQUARE — A construction problem at the Congress Theater has forced another shutdown, and canceled and postponed events at the embattled neighborhood music venue are mounting.

At least two Congress shows have been postponed and two others have been canceled in recent weeks.

A scheduled May 31 performance by country duo Montgomery Gentry was the first to be canceled after a backup power generator for the second floor was not ready to be tested during a city inspection May 29.

The lack of a generator forced the theater's second floor to be closed until another city inspection took place during the week of owner Eddie Carranza's next court date, which was scheduled for June 20.

City Law Department spokesman Roderick Drew said Monday that another problem having to do with construction work on the first floor has forced the theater at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave. to shut down.

Drew said work was being done there without a permit and had created a "tripping hazard."

Though Drew said the theater could be reopened once the issue was resolved, it appeared that might not happen before the court date as the theater had cleared its calendar until the Artopia Fest scheduled for June 23.

The Evolution Music Tour, scheduled to appear at the theater last weekend, has been postponed until July 27, while a Juanes show, scheduled to take place this Thursday, was canceled entirely.

An announcement of the cancelation on Ticketyfly.com said refunds would be issued.

On Monday, it was announced on the Congress Theater Facebook page that the Still Awake Afterparty electronic show would be rescheduled.

"Due to some unforeseen circumstances the STILL AWAKE AFTERPARTY is going to have to be rescheduled," the status update reads. "ALL COMP TICKETS for the original date will still be honored. Stay tuned for more information regarding the new date. We apologize for any inconveniences [sic]."

Carranza said Tuesday morning that neither the Still Awake Afterparty nor the Evolution Music Tour was very big, so he opted to postpone them.

"They're both small little community shows that were not worth doing because we're doing this construction work," he said.

As for the Juanes show, Carranza said it was canceled months ago for unrelated reasons.

He added that venues like the Congress are not usually very busy this time of year anyway because of outdoor fests such as Lollapalooza and Pitchfork.

"In the summertime, there's really no shows in every venue like [the Congress], people want to be outdoors," he said. "All theaters in the summer get very, very slow."