Storied Wrigley Rooftop Club Sold At Bankruptcy Auction
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Lakeview Baseball Club, one of the oldest rooftop clubs on the streets surrounding Wrigley Field, has been sold at a bankruptcy auction.
The Chicago Tribune reported this week that the rooftop club, at 3633 N. Sheffield Ave., was sold to a company affiliated with Mark Schlenker, owner of the Brixen Ivy club around the corner on Waveland Avenue.
Earlier published reports said the club had been set to be the subject of a foreclosure auction last year, but the owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to stop the auction. Crain's Chicago Business reported last August that the owners wanted to sell the property to pay off $3.3 million in debt to Orland Park-based First Personal Bank.
People have been watching games from the rooftops of the apartment buildings along Sheffield and Waveland avenues since Wrigley Field was built in 1914. But the arrangement was informal until the Lakeview Baseball Club was established in 1988 as the first official rooftop club.
It remains the only private club among the Wrigley rooftops; would-be patrons must buy memberships, while the 15 clubs are available for single game-day tickets.
The Lakeview Baseball Club is known for the its two Latin signs that are seen behind the right field bleachers at Cubs games. One reads, "Eamus Catuli," or "Let's go Cubs," while the other counts the number of years since the Cubs have won a division title, a National League Championship and a World Series, preceded by "A.C." for "Anno Catuli" or "Year of the Cub."
