The Fireside’s Unlikely Allies
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Four years later there’s been no official word from the city on a change in the Fireside’s status, but the club has started spending more money on upkeep–not the behavior of people who know they’re running a doomed operation. The breathtakingly skanky bathrooms have gotten a partial makeover, some maintenance has been done on the lanes, the roof’s been repaired, and there’s a new coat of battleship gray paint on the paneling in the stage area. Though owner Jim Lapinski didn’t return phone calls for this piece, it’s fair to say that someone at the club has reason to believe that its future is relatively secure now.
When the plan was first announced, the city cited a 1998 green-space survey that found that Logan Square needed an additional 110 acres of parkland. Though Haas Park occupies less than an acre, it’s the busiest and best-loved park in the ward, according to Flores’s office. To clear the way for its proposed expansion, eastward along the north side of Fullerton, the city planned to use the power of eminent domain to acquire the bowling alley as well as a neighboring muffler shop and bar. Letters even went out to the businesses in question, notifying them that the acquisition process was under way. Yet little more ever happened.
In keeping with its new work ethic, Tortoise has already begun tracking a follow-up EP to It’s All Around You. “We have a couple tunes recorded; we want to get a few more,” says McEntire. The EP will also include the band’s first professionally produced video, for “Salt the Skies.” Filming was completed last month with Adam Levite, who’s directed clips for Interpol, Elefant, and the Burning Brides, among others. The disc will be out on Thrill Jockey early next year.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Jim Newberry, Saverio Truglia.
