The Ultimate History Guide to Chicago's Aragon Ballroom: from Waltz King to Alt-Rock
By James H. Sterling
One hundred years after the Karzas brothers unlocked its heavy brass doors, the Aragon Ballroom remains fundamentally true to its original design. While countless historic entertainment halls across the Midwest fell to surface parking lots and commercial real estate development, this Uptown anchor managed to survive every seismic shift in American music. The big bands and ballroom gowns gave way to power chords, synthesizers, and sub-bass drops, but the core human appeal remains identical: thousands of people gathering beneath an artificial sky of electric stars, moving in unison on an eighty-foot floor that shifts beneath their feet.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
