After 4 Decades Empty, Division Street Tavern Gets Tenant

A Division Street tavern that has been vacant for about four decades may soon be bustling again.

DNAInfo Chicago reports that the space at 2125 W. Division St. is being rented by a nearby bar owner who "hopes to expand his operations." The tenant may move into the space this month.

The original bar shuttered its doors in the 1970s after its owner was shot and killed by a customer who pulled a gun and "announced a stickup." His widow, Maria Kafka, still lives above the now vacant tavern.

"Maria, now 90, said her husband died at nearby St. Elizabeth's Hospital, though it was unclear if he died from wounds suffered in the robbery or from another cause," DNAInfo says. "Her husband ran 'a clean bar,'" she said, noting that "Many bars on Division Street were dope bars, but his was not."

Check out DNA Info for more on the story.