In 1939, the Old Crawford Inn first opened its doors in Skokie at 9956 Crawford Ave., just a stone’s throw from neighboring Evanston.
Back then, Evanston was a dry town, and residents would walk across Crawford Avenue to Skokie to grab a beer. In 1952, the Old Crawford Inn was sold and would later become UBAA Tap. In November 2011, UBAA closed its doors and was eventually sold to Terraco Real Estate Development and Management.
Now, the once-popular bar will become a Walgreens. The Skokie Village Board unanimously approved six different measures that will allow the project to move forward on Monday. The approval came just three months after the opening of Walgreens' "flagship" store at Dempster Street and Crawford Avenue.
Some of the approved measures will allow the Walgreens to sell beer, wine and also have a drive-thru lane for prescription pickups.
Just two blocks north is a CVS pharmacy and 12 blocks south is Walgreens’ “flagship” store.
About a half a dozen residents, who live near the now-vacant UBAA Tap, spoke out against the development prior to the board vote.
“Small operation [type businesses] will be replaced by a large, 23-foot structure owned by a large corporation,” said Cindy Latin, who lives just down the street from the new Walgreens site. “It will be a behemoth among the current housing and will affect residential life.
“This is not Dempster Street,” Latin added.
Meanwhile, Evanston resident David Jansen said the new Walgreens would cause a “traffic gridlock” on Old Orchard Road.
“Because of Old Orchard Road’s design, I think we’re asking for a lot of traffic accidents,” Jansen said.
Skokie resident Maria Ford had other concerns.
Ford said she has two children that attend Highland Elementary, which is just three blocks from the Walgreens site.
“The area will not be safe for biking or walking to school,” Ford said.
Ford also added that the new Walgreens would be the third business to sell alcohol in the area.
“I’m not sure how many times I’ve had to clean up beer bottles in my area – that are not from my neighbors - and explain to my children how they got there. And now we want to add a third establishment selling liquor?”
‘Done deal’
Technically speaking, the UBAA Tap site is designated as a commercial area. Plan Commissioner Chair Paul Luke said if Walgreens wasn’t seeking to sell liquor and have a drive thru that Terraco could have built it without the board’s approval.
It is unclear when construction will begin. Store hours have been set from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The building will also stand 23-feet tall at its peak and be 14,490 square feet inside. The Walgreens at the intersection of Demspter Street and Crawford Avenue is 29-feet tall.
Evanston Alderman Mark Tendam (6th Ward) said a lot of his constituents have concerns about the proposed site.
“We’re probably impacted more than Skokie residents,” Tendam said. “I expect Terraco and village staff to work with Evanston as they work with Skokie.
“We need to really, really connect on this and make this work for all residents, both Skokie and Evanston.”
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This after Evanston's Mayor also blocked them in their own downtown. (World of Beer later took that space.) So it should have been seen as a coo if, Skokie could have gotten another restaurant instead of a Walgreen's that is overkill. The developer is at fault for going for what presumably was fast, easier and probably more money in Walgreen's. While claiming to be doing what was best for the community. Walgreen's & CVS have been in a block for block chess game for 10 years. So they will leap at any chance to one up each other at any time, regardless of community input. The above article is generous in saying the CVS is 2 blocks away. Because in reality, it is 1 block. And even visible from the UBBA site. All this deal did was feed into Walgreen's part of that ongoing game. Don't forget the Skokie CVS is at Main & Crawford. Which is why the new one is on Dempster. And what about Skokie businesses Tony's Liquor's & Shaefer's Wines? If Walgreen's was a caring contributor to Skokie, it would have forgone liquor sales as part of the new store. The Village should have blocked the liquor license, just to test Walgreen's commitment. I heard the initial meeting about converting the license from on-site consumption to packaged goods, was one of the longest they'd ever had to endure. That was the Village's window of opportunity to fix this.
VOTE FOR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES !!!!!!!
Tilted Kilt would likely have brought more jobs to the area than a Walgreen's will. New construction jobs of either would be the same. But in the long run, a Walgreen's will likely need less staff to operate. A manager, counter help who double up at photo & cosmetics, pharmacists & stock men. I've seen as few as 5 staff members at the Walgreen's on Oakton at any given time, including the 2 pharmacists. Tilted Kilt would have had a manager, bartenders, hostesses, servers, cooks & busboys. None requiring the degree pharmacists need. And likely would have had a more constant rotation of those jobs for the community. Not to mention providing a more inviting location for residents, even if it was a restaurant other than Tilted Kilt. Anything at the Walgreen's can be gotten a block away at CVS. This is just development for the sake of development. Walgreen's way of putting 2 stores on Crawford to match the 2 CVS already has. No convenience is being gained for Evanston or Skokie residents.
Pictured along with Evanston's Mayor and the Alderman are members of Terraco Inc., project developers of that Trader Joes. (Keep in mind Evanston's Mayor blocked Tilted Kilt in it's downtown.) The above named Terraco Real Estate Development and Management, owns the UBAA site and coincidentally also turned down Tilted Kilt. Are both Terraco companies of the same ownership? It may never be looked into, since Tilted Kilt was turned down in two different towns. But being on the border of Evanston, it sure makes one wonder.