The CheckOut at Open House Chicago

The CheckOut is a striking example of adaptive reuse: a long-vacant former 7-Eleven convenience store transformed into a vibrant chamber music venue, bar, and community gathering space. Developed by Chicago non-profit Access Contemporary Music (ACM), the project preserves playful traces of the building’s retail past, including the original entry bell and convenience-store-inspired design touches, while reimagining the interior as an intimate, flexible performance environment for concerts, cabaret, film screenings, listening parties, and music education. The venue seats approximately 80 people and was designed to dissolve barriers between performers and audiences, creating an unusually informal and welcoming experience for classical and contemporary music. ACM has transformed our popular Sunday afternoon Solo Piano Spotlight concerts into a weekend-long extravaganza for Open House Chicago. Every fifteen or twenty minutes pianists will perform a wide range of short pieces on our 9 foot concert grand Yamaha piano. We'll also be on hand to talk about the transformation of the space from a long-empty eyesore to a thriving musical venue including insights into the acoustical treatment.