Feb. 8, 2016 – River North’s first “ping pong social club” will partially open on March 4, a spokesperson for SPiN announced on Monday. A “grand opening celebration” on March 10 will be a private event but at 9:30 p.m., SPiN will open to the public.

The upscale bar/restaurant, where customers may also play table tennis, replaces a 16,000 square foot Crunch fitness center on the east side of Hotel Chicago. The space at Marina City had been vacant since 2008. Actress Susan Sarandon (left), one of the owners of SPiN, will likely be in Chicago for the opening, according to the New York-based company.

The Chicago location expects to get its Certificate of Occupancy from the Department of Buildings next week. The certificate is required in Chicago if material costs of an alteration of a non-residential building exceed $400,000. ARCO/Murray National Construction Company, Inc., of Downers Grove, is working on the build-out.

The design by David Rockwell of Chicago includes a bar and warm-up table on the level accessed from State Street, and a staircase from street level to a lower level with another bar, restaurant, private lounges, and 19 ping pong tables.

In addition to the $2.4 million renovation at SPiN, work continues on both the east and west sides of Hotel Chicago. Patios are being built, one for a future retail tenant and the other for Katana, a Japanese restaurant that is taking over the old BIN 36 space in the southwest corner of the building.

(Right) Seen last Tuesday, a ramp for use by disabled visitors is being replaced by a glass-enclosed wheelchair lift. Another lift is being built on the west side of Hotel Chicago. This construction is near the northeast corner of the hotel, across State Street from AMA Plaza.

Joe Dziemianzuk, SPiN’s Global Director of Operations, says the Chicago space is perfect for them. “We like that ‘basement’ feel…going back to the idea of finding the ping pong table down in grandma’s basement,” says Dziemianzuk (left). “It’s got the high ceilings so it accommodates the ability to play well. We have a lot of issues in New York because we only have ten-foot ceilings and there’s a lot of times the pros are hitting the ceiling or hitting the lights.”

To play table tennis properly, a player needs an area ten feet wide by 25 feet long, according to Dziemianzuk.

“With the price of real estate today, we’ve got to look for creative spaces.”

A building permit issued on September 22, 2015, estimated the cost of the renovation at $2,473,000.

(Right) Great Lakes Stair & Steel, Inc., installs stairs last October near State Street that will lead down to SPiN’s main entrance.