With the announcement of the Checkerboard Lounge’s opening, Hyde Park will finally have a great social hotspot that’s not University-focused. Students and residents can enjoy great music together at a venue that promises to be not only enjoyable, but historical.

The Checkerboard brings blues and jazz back to where it belongs: Chicago’s South Side. The club was originally a haven for great music legends—Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and B.B. King, to name a few. Though Bronzeville once hosted this club, Hyde Park will now lay claim to one of the most storied blues venues in Chicago. Music connoisseurs and curious students alike should make a point of visiting the Checkerboard.

The University has an arguably embarrassing history of bullying neighborhood businesses. Yet, in this instance and like many recent efforts, the University made a great decision in extending a hand to the Checkerboard management. Structural problems in the club’s old Bronzeville location threatened to mute the Checkerboard’s tunes forever. But when the University stepped in, the venue was given a new home, which luckily happens to be close to our home.

The Maroon will be grooving in high style at the Checkerboard’s November 18 grand opening. We hope to see you there.