Rive Gauche Nightclub, open late 1999 to mid-2005, was a popular

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

located in the River West district near Chicago's

Greektown Greektown is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Greeks or people of Greek ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. History The oldest Greek dominated neighborhood outside of Greece were probably the Fener in Istanbu ...

neighborhood, and the

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

. Rive Gauche is a French title meaning

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

, an appropriate name for a nightclub that had a unique Parisian theme, despite it being located on the right bank of the Chicago River. Rive Gauche is simply known as ''Rive'' by Chicago’s nightclub enthusiast community.

History & Atmosphere

Before Rive opened as a nightclub that eventually catered to a crowd of Chicago's young Polish population, it was known as a predominantly male homosexual venue dubbed The Generator. It is true that the owners of The Generator and Rive's owners are the same. Rive was ''the place to be'' for European tourists and celebrities at the height of its popularity. Its visitors included the founder of

Playboy Magazine ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

. Rive was undoubtedly an adult playground where only female patrons were allowed to dance on

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...

poles and the miniature

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

statues, sometimes three or four at a time. Some young women would eagerly participate in these stripper-like activities to gain attention from young male patrons, and the house-sanctioned photographers. Early 2003 also saw troubles for Rive Nightclub. The E2 Nightclub catastrophe on

Chicago's South Side The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's Loop area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and we ...

caused the city to create a task force to inspect all Chicago nightclubs for possible capacity violations and other building code violations. Rive was immediately handed a citation and had to close down for short period of time to fix their outside exit doors so they will open outward as opposed to inward. In 2005, due to the age of the nightclub and patrons passing up Rive for newer venues, Rive Gauche Nightclub owners decided to close down and remodel the club back into the Generator, a club catering particularly to the African-American gay community. The Generator closed its doors on September 16, 2007 to remodel and reopen as Mannequin on November 30, 2007. The new mainstream club boasts itself as a modern-day spin on what Rive used to be.

Mannequin Nightclub (2007 - 2009)

Mannequin is among the few nightspots to implement Illinois's statewide public

smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor work ...

well before becoming law on January 1, 2008. One reason for doing so is to preserve the club's new decor.

References

{{coord, 41, 53, 13.5, N, 87, 38, 51.8, W, region:US-IL_type:landmark, display=title Nightclubs in Chicago