Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Gold Coast Clubs, Palette Restaurant Shut Down By City

 The
The "Gold Room" in Room Seven at 7 W. Division St. The club was one of many the city shut down this week over building code violations.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/David Matthews

GOLD COAST — Three nightclubs and a new restaurant in the Gold Coast have been shut down by the city over "dangerous and hazardous" building code violations, officials say.

Division Street clubs Room Seven, Detention and Primary Night Club as well as nearby restaurant Palette, 1204 N. State St., were closed by the city after an inspection Wednesday night, said Mimi Simon, a spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings.

The three clubs occupy the same building at 5-9 W. Division St., while Palette is around the corner. City inspectors found "dangerous and hazardous structural, electrical and fire-separation violations" at all four businesses, Simon said. 

All four could also reopen as soon as they address the code violations, Simon said. 

"The city takes building safety complaints in businesses very seriously, and multiple city departments work together to inspect when necessary," Simon said in an email.

Room Seven and Palette are relative newcomers to the corner of State and Division, a longtime nightlife destination in Chicago that draws big overnight crowds. Room Seven opened in 2015, while Palette just opened in March. Palette, run by acclaimed chef Derek Rylon, even hosted Chance The Rapper during its early weeks of operation.

But some neighbors and the local aldermen say the businesses contribute to a decadent club scene that often turns rowdy at night. Room Seven had been summoned to disciplinary hearings this year at City Hall, and Palette runs an outdoor patio and late-night, bordello-themed club it doesn't have licenses for, said Christian Ficara, an aide to Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd). 

Ficara cited a January shooting that wounded three people at State and Division as a product of the troublesome environment the shut down clubs help create. A "nexus of issues" led to the inspection that shut down the four businesses this week, he said. 

Hopkins "felt action needed to be taken and we’ll use whatever is necessary to keep these people in line to make sure there isn’t a public safety problem," Ficara said. 

Rylon and representatives of Room Seven did not immediately return messages seeking comment. CBS2 first reported the shutdowns Thursday morning.