Honoring Dan Levin 1930-2025

It is with great sadness that we share news of the passing of East Bank Club’s founder, Daniel E. Levin.

For more than 40 years, Dan provided the vision and leadership that made our Club what it is today. EBC was Dan’s passion, and Dan was our heart and soul. 

In 1973, Dan obtained an option to purchase a 142,000-square-foot parcel of land on the east bank of the north branch of the Chicago River – the plot where EBC now stands. He applied for financing with the Illinois Housing Development Authority, but was turned down. There was skepticism at the time that people would want to live in the River North neighborhood, an area that was once a railroad turnaround with barns and sheds, and was suffering from disinvestment.

Dan had a vision for the neighborhood that was much different. And so he set his sights on building a health club. His concept was to construct a facility unlike any other club in the country – something large enough to offer an incredible array of activities and services and provide the feeling of a country club, and more, within the city. “We wanted to create something,” Dan said in 2000, “that would offer the best in equipment and amenities, but also provide a gracious social environment. Our hope was that the Club would become a place that was meaningful in people’s lives, and that we would be able to set the highest possible standard in terms of the facility, personnel, equipment, amenities, programs, and services.”

Dan was modest about his success. He once said he hoped to be “remembered as a good man, who, in a variety of ways, helped make the world a little better place.”

There is no doubt that he did, and much more. Dan’s vision is our guiding light, and he will continue to live on through the EBC experience that he created.

For more about Dan’s incredible life, Crain’s Chicago published a piece on Sunday: https://lnkd.in/ghjrRCrS