“Karaoke on The Ave!” plans to take over and rehab the building located at 5234 W. Chicago Ave.
The concept is a single large karaoke room that will be open to both the community and available for private events.
While there are other event spaces in the community, Shirley Fields, who will be leading the project and running the business, said there is nothing specific to karaoke.
“Now you can actually have a professional stage … you can literally have a real karaoke party,” Fields said.
She said whenever she mentions the karaoke business, everyone’s faces light up, because everyone knows what karaoke is. That is how Fields knows it will be a success, because of the demand.
Fields said when she was young, she would get microphones and costumes rather than dolls for birthdays and Christmases. Later in life, she found herself hosting and partaking in karaoke events, winning virtually every competition she entered.
Being a West Side native and a trained actress from Columbia College Chicago inspired Fields to start her own karaoke business in Austin.
However, this is not her first business venture.
Fields currently works in real estate and previously ran a restaurant “with a fast-food touch.” But running a restaurant business since the coronavirus pandemic has proven to be a difficult feat in and of itself.
What did Fields learn from that?
She now knows she does not want to sell food in a restaurant manner. However, a prep kitchen will be available for catering, private event use and even the restaurants themselves, Fields said.
The total cost to ready the space is estimated at $453,000, with the city providing $250,000 through a Department of Planning and Development program, which reimburses up to 75% of expenses for projects ranging from $60,000 to $250,000.
Eleven South, Southwest and West Side businesses are recipients of over $2.1 million to support renovations and new buildouts from the city as part of a greater effort to support neighborhood commercial corridors.
“Karaoke on The Ave!” is one of three new businesses coming to the Soul City Corridor. Shawn Michelle’s Homemade Ice Cream at 5246 W. Chicago Ave. and Joseph’s Place Community Theater at 5912 W. Chicago Ave. also received money from the city under the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund Grants. However, Fields’s karaoke venue will be the first of its kind in Austin.
While Fields has all of the permits and financing in place, there is still ongoing construction from the Austin Corridor Streetscape Improvements project, so Fields and her contractor are just waiting for the OK to start on their own.
Her previous goal was to open in August, but due to the delays, she is setting it back to open sometime between October and November.
“‘Karaoke on The Ave!’ is just not a venue; it’s the destination,” Fields said. “It’s a community asset and a celebration of culture, music, entrepreneurship and neighborhood pride.”
Emma Bradford is an intern for NEWSWELL CHICAGO through Report for America’s Local News Internship Program.