The pre-pandemic vendors who operated Humboldt Park’s quaint Café Alejo do not plan to reopen, and the Chicago Park District is seeking new concessionaires to lease the space inside the park’s Boathouse Pavilion.

       When Humboldt Park resident Erica Serrano first leased the space inside the pavilion in 2015, her goal was to create a cafe that would allow the community to connect there. Serrano, with a business partner, opened the doors of Café Alejo on July 4 of that year, after build-out work that involved her extended family.

       “It was a real family project,” Serrano said. “My dad came in and helped me construct it, my brothers came in, all my family. We were all there.”

       As a full-service restaurant offering outdoor seating, live music, liquor and numerous special events, Café Alejo provided a place for the Humboldt Park community to come together, Serrano said.

       “The cafe became a place for young people and families to come hang out,” Serrano said.

       Serrano said obtaining a license from the Park District to open a cafe at the boathouse was no easy task. She began applying for the license in 2010 and only received and signed a five-year contract in 2014.

       “I had to apply to open the cafe for four years in a row before I received my original contract,” Serrano said.

       Serrano said she decided to not renew the contract for the boathouse space after the initial contract expired so that she could spend more time with her twin daughters, who were born in 2014, a year before the cafe opened.

       “I spent a majority of my time at the boathouse cafe and not with my children,” Serrano said. “Missing so many of their little kid moments was huge for me.”

       The Park District is now looking to lease the space to new concessionaires, said Park District spokesperson Irene Tostado.

       According to former Chicago Park District historian Julia Bachrach, the available space is one of the two enclosed structures in the Boathouse Pavilion, which was built in 1906 as a part of an improvement plan for the 206-acre park.

       The boathouse is located between a recreational lagoon, famous for its rental swan paddle boats, and a plaza intended for musical concerts and special events. It was named a Chicago landmark in 1996, Bachrach said.

       Concessionaires interested in leasing the space can apply at https://parkconcessions.com/apply/

       Although Serrano relishes the memories of running Café Alejo and believes she may return to the food and beverage industry when her daughters are older, she does not plan on reapplying to lease the boathouse cafe.

       “I really do miss the connection I had with the community while being in that space,” Serrano said.

       nagupta@chicagotribune.com

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