Ravenswood Chamber Of Commerce May Close

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce in the eponymous North Side neighborhood will likely close early next year due to mounting debt, according to a published report.

Acting executive director Patricia Martinelli tells the Center Square Journal that the chamber of commerce is being dissolved, and will likely be defunct by February of next year.

The Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce has been in operation since 1986, and is headquartered at 1756 W. Wilson Ave. The chamber describes itself on its own website as "a growing, vibrant organization that reflects the strength of its community."

But the chamber actually stopped holding events this past August, after executive director Tom Kamykowski was asked to step down after five years. Board president David Ochab resigned soon afterward, the Center Square Journal reported.

The publication did not go into detail about why Kamykowski and Ochab left, but said Kamykowski took the member list when he left, and thus, members were not notified of the changes.

The chamber of commerce is also now working out a payment plan with the Internal Revenue Service and the Illinois Department of Revenue with almost $40,000 in back payroll taxes and unemployment insurance fees, the Center Square Journal reported.

The chamber did not put on its annual Dash Down Damen and Christmas tree-lighting ceremony this year, according to the Center Square Journal.