From Slurpees to Shostakovich, an abandoned 7-Eleven becomes a home for classical music

Not everyone looks at the long-vacant husk of a former convenience store and gets visions of string quartets and piano recitals. But that’s exactly how it happened for Seth Boustead, the head of Access Contemporary Music.

In February 2023, in a cab traveling on North Clark Street, Boustead saw the familiar sight of the empty store at 4116, once a 7-Eleven, before that a White Hen Pantry. This time, the window had a “for rent” sign. After the cab ride, Boustead zipped back on his bicycle and peered in the dark windows.

“This would be an amazing chamber music venue,” he remembers thinking, dreaming of what is now scheduled to open in mid-September as the CheckOut. Previews in the new space have already begun, the first Thursday.

“It’s pretty unrecognizable,” Boustead said. “The door dings when you walk in, like a 7-Eleven — we left that. Behind the bar, there’s still, where the grease trap used to be, a door that goes down into the floor where they used to dump grease. I found a training poster for their employees, and we’re planning to frame it and put it in the bathroom.”

ACM, now 21 years old, has always done many different things simultaneously. It gives music lessons, has a composer collective and presents concerts, such as the annual Sound of Silent Film Festival, where it commissions and live-performs scores for modern silent films. And once a year, it throws a classical music street festival called Thirsty Ears.

The CheckOut will check in as ACM’s biggest element. It aims to put on two or three chamber concerts a week, mostly self-produced. There are incipient plans for a jazz night on Thursday and for cabaret shows to fill the void left when Davenport’s abruptly canceled all its cabarets in April.

“The first time we did Thirsty Ears,” Boustead said, “I was like, this is a big deal. It felt like the organization was at a different level. And the CheckOut feels like we’re at a different level times three.”

Unsurprisingly, a project of this magnitude had obstacles, money chief among them. Boustead said the rent for the CheckOut is close to the three music schools’ combined. And it quickly became clear that in addition to the renovations necessary to convert the space to a music venue, they would have to make up for upkeep that 7-Eleven had inconveniently deferred. Boustead said the estimate was $300,000 to $400,000.

Then there were the administrative hurdles. The property was zoned for single-family houses, and the area had a liquor license moratorium.

Both the odd zoning and the moratorium had the effect of funneling ACM through 46th Ward Ald. Angela Clay’s office, so that she and the community could weigh in before the project began. Boustead made a presentation to the Graceland West Area Community Association about lessons, rehearsals and concerts for 60 to 100 audience members filling the empty shell.

“Folks were excited about having this kind of small cultural institution in the neighborhood, but there’s a lot of red tape the city puts up,” said Jesse Orr, director of infrastructure and development in Clay’s office. “The more neighborhood businesses that flourish in the city, the better we are as a city.”

Boustead started checking boxes. With some hand-holding from Clay’s office, they hacked through the permits, inspections, zoning and other city tasks. And he worked on money. ACM landed a Community Development Grant through the city’s Department of Planning and Development for $250,000. They started a capital campaign, offering naming rights for the stage and chairs. So far the campaign has raised $470,000.

The construction, the money and the red tape-macheteing has progressed to the point where the wide-open space, with cabaret tables and an uncrowded 53 seats set up, can now host an audience. Last Thursday, Boustead assembled a preview crowd and noted the irony that 7-Elevens play classical music to prevent people from loitering. This time, the 7-Eleven left, and the classical music stayed around.

The Palomar Trio, part of ACM’s long-standing house ensemble, played piano-violin-cello music ranging chronologically from modern Dmitri Shostakovich to the of-the-minute 42-year-old Reena Esmail. With acoustical work still to be done, the room echoed more than would be ideal, and how to manage the sound of the air conditioning against the temperature of the room hasn’t been settled. But the music filled the space nicely, the louds excitingly loud and soft effects detectable. You’d never guess it had once been slinging slushies.

For the public, the grand opening comes Sep. 13-28, with a festival to fete the new forum. Palomar will repeat the preview program Sep. 24. And if you’re looking for a slushie, the CheckOut does plan to serve those — with booze.