Chicago Athletic Association

With echoes of banging billiard balls, tossed poker chips and clinking glasses resonating through the halls, our 1893 Venetian Gothic landmark is a living, breathing ode to Chicago’s rich story—where the spirit of play reigned supreme.

After all, this is the city where the can-do attitude of Ernie “Let’s Play Two!” Banks lives on. Where the father of Chicago blues, Muddy Waters, shook all night long. And Sir Duke tickled the ivories at The Blue Note. And this was the club whose venerable members swam with five-time Olympic gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller—a.k.a. the original Hollywood Tarzan—and watched fellow member Pudge Heffelfinger own so much end zone, he became football’s first pro.

Reserved for the elite and privileged for 122 years—until we opened the doors and welcomed everyone—today Chicago Athletic Association is both a novel downtown destination on the doorstep of Millennium Park and a historic monument to the big-shouldered spirit that defines our beloved city. Ours is never, ever the same place twice.