Demolition begins on former Chicago nightclub where stampede killed 21

CHICAGO (AP) — Demolition has begun on a historic downtown building two decades after a stampede at the dance club it housed left 21 dead and nearly five dozen injured. A crew moved in Tuesday after last week’s emergency demolition order by the Chicago Department of Buildings. That followed a Nov. 7 ruling by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks that denied the building owner’s application to tear it down. It opened in 1910 as an automobile showroom and is part the city’s historic Motor Row District. On Feb. 17, 2003, security guards at the crowded E2 dance hall used pepper spray to break up a fight. Panicked patrons rushed the main door, which only opened inward.