CHICAGO — When The Warehouse made the top seven list of most endangered buildings in Chicago facing possible demolition, preservationists sprung to action to save the West Loop industrial building where legendary DJ Frankie Knuckles elevated Chicago to a higher musical level with "house music."
Besides playing soul-moving music through sound systems created by a New York engineer, Knuckles brought together partygoers from all backgrounds. Some have said The Warehouse was Chicago’s Paradise Garage and Studio 54.
“Frankie Knuckles would take the patrons of The Warehouse on a musical journey,” said longtime friend Kevin Abdullah, a retired Chicago Fire Department lieutenant. He said that Knuckles, along with the former owner of The Warehouse, Robert Williams, brought elements of the New York party scene to Chicago.
To date about 13,000 people have signed a petition agreeing The Warehouse deserves landmark status. The building, which is in the West Loop, an area once commercial and desolate, is a hotbed for redevelopment.
Preservationists said the three-story industrial building has no historical protections, which puts it at risk of being demolished. A petition was started to urge city officials to take action. Under landmark rules, owners would have to get permission to make any changes to the building.
In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Ward Miller, the executive director of Preservation Chicago, remembers attending The Warehouse.
“It was a nice time. It was a different time and place,” Miller remembered. “The whole building rocked. We were young and probably naive, but Black, white, Asian, Hispanic ... we all were together having a good time.” Miller said. “The building was beautiful but modest. I am very proud to say I knew the place.”
The body-moving sound was developed by house music promoter and native New Yorker Robert Williams, who visited Chicago in the ‘70s before making it his home.
Williams found the parties back then to be different from what he was accustomed to in New York, he explained in an interview after being recognized by Chicago under the Rahm Emanuel administration. He was recognized with Robert Williams Day on May 28, 2021.
Williams took house music parties to another level, hiring Richard Long, the New York engineer, to build the sound system for The Warehouse. He also tagged Knuckles to "spin" records, looking to bring a DJ from New York to seize a pivotal moment in Chicago’s nightlife scene.
“Robert Williams was an important part of the house music movement in Chicago,” said Abdullah, a close friend of Knuckles and Williams. ”The Warehouse was the first club that had a predominantly Black gay following. Of course, people of other races came later, but it started as a safe haven for Black gays to party, and it became a place for them to call their own.”
Abdullah said once people got over homophobic beliefs, the party began.
“If you could get over (homophobia), you would have a wonderful time,” Abdullah said.
He told a story of how Knuckles embraced the term house music. Abdullah said Knuckles and a few close friends were driving and stumbled across a window advertisement stating The Warehouse plays house music. Knuckles asked the group, ”What is house music?” and one of them replied: “That’s the music you play at The Warehouse.”
A South Bronx native, Abdullah and others navigated the house music scene in Chicago that mimicked Paradise Garage and Studio 54 in New York. He mentioned other clubs such as Sauer’s, the Penthouse and the Power Plant.
Knuckles combined gospel, disco, techno, R&B and soft rock, creating the house music scene at The Warehouse.
There were other ‘underground’ clubs in Chicago as well that played house music, but The Warehouse put Chicago on the map. The unforgettable sound system, set up in an industrial building, created a powerful sound.
Last fall, the property was up for sale and slated for redevelopment. Max Chavez, the director of research and special projects at Preservation Chicago, said recently there were no demolition permits on hand for the structure.
The new building’s owners said they plan to use the property for office space, Miller said.
“With almost 10,000 signatures, it’s a place that really matters to people, even in the United Kingdom,” Chavez said. “We need to be proactive while we have a chance. The Warehouse is such a cultural building with historic importance.”
Chavez said the petition will gain the city’s attention and “the sky is the limit” for how many may sign.
Robert Williams told the Tribune that he is following the landmark effort.
“I am very happy about the movement. The Warehouse in itself made a big contribution to Chicago,” Williams said.
He noted the importance of Mayor Richard J. Daley backing The Warehouse in the ‘70s.
“During the mid-’70s, they weren’t accustomed to Blacks in that area,” Williams said.
He said mothers often would show up looking for their children, and when they would appear in the front yelling, “I know she’s in there,” someone would direct the partygoer out the back where they would take refugee at Union Station until the coast was clear.
Williams said youth learned networking at The Warehouse.
“The Warehouse inspired people to live and go on,” he said.
One of Williams’ proteges, party promoter Reginald Corner, said he thinks it’s an excellent idea to give The Warehouse landmark status.
“It would be nice to have a museum because it’s one of the founding places of the genre called house music,” Corner said. “It’s all around the world now. The Warehouse played a significant role of Chicago being the place were house music was born.”
Knuckles, a 1997 Grammy Award winner for Remixer of the Year-Nonclassical, also had a portion of Jefferson Street between Monroe and Van Buren named Frankie Knuckles Way in 2004.
The following year he was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his musical achievements.
Knuckles died March 31, 2014, in Chicago due to complications of diabetes, friends said.
The Warehouse gave partygoers a dramatic sound, allowing the crowd to hear things in songs they didn’t hear at other clubs.
“The sound was incredible, the best (expletive) I’ve ever heard,” Corner said.
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