by BRIAN NADIG A public hearing on the proposed Weber Spur Trail in the Mayfair-Sauganash area will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the Student read story
Wiklanski’s Bakery moving west to Elmwood Park
by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKi
Longtime Northwest Side staple Wiklanski’s Bakery plans to move to Elmwood Park this month, the owner said.
Known for its traditional Polish bread, rolls, pastries and cakes, the bakery, which opened in 2012 at 6006 W. Belmont Ave., is moving to 7717-19 W. Belmont Ave. in the suburb. It used to be Richard’s Polish Bakery before then.
Waclaw Wiklanski said the move is expected to be completed in the middle of March.
“I’m ready to open right now but I have to finish a few more things,” Wiklanski said. “It’s about 95 percent completed.”
Wiklanski said new windows need to be installed at the new location and he is waiting “on a new fridge,” and some furnishing for an office.
He said he began working with the Village of Elmwood Park last year on a possible move after news that the current property at Belmont and Austin would be demolished.
Plans called for a Starbucks with a drive through but the plan will not materialize. Alderwoman Ruth Cruz (30th) said she plans to meet with the property owners to discuss plans for the site.
Wiklanski’s Bakery is not the only business that moved from that block following news of the Starbucks plan.
Kyokushin Karate “Kanku” Dojo moved from 6022 W. Belmont Ave., to the O’Hare Tech Center Business Complex, 4825 Scott Street, Suite B3, Schiller Park. Other businesses on that block have moved or closed.
Wiklanski said uncertainty played a role in the decision to move the bakery.
“They were supposed to demolish it. If they weren’t going to demolish it I would have stayed here another 2 years,” he said. But he said that “every cloud has a silver lining,” and that moving locations is a “breath of fresh air.”
He said that the demographics of the area are changing and that it was sad that “there’s going to be nobody left here (on this block).”
“There is no Polonia here anymore,” Wiklanski said. “So how does it make sense to have a Polish bakery here?”
In related news, a local historian is spearheading an effort to save an elaborately carved wooden facade of the former Chicago 21 Club at 6020 W. Belmont Ave. where the Smashing Pumpkins played its first concert in 1988. Stay tuned.
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