"The building to the left of telephone pole in my photo was the Clark theatre, the one that has the white façade on the top. To the left of the Clark was the Gray theatre. I worked at those theatres in the late 1950s. Here is an interesting story. By 1958 it was becoming increasingly more difficult to keep both movie houses going. To cut overhead, Mr. Clark, the owner, decided to have a ticket seller in only one booth and only one concession stand, both in the Clark. If you wanted popcorn and you were in the Gray you had to walk outside and over to the Clark to get it. To get into the gray you bought your ticket at the Clark. Anyway, one evening around dusk a gentleman came in a wanted to talk to Mr. Clark. He proceeded to praise Mr. Clark and his concept of having merged the two theaters. He said he owned several movie houses in Chicago and was going to copy Mr. Clarks concept and consider building multiple screen movie houses in the future. I often wonder if thatis what started the theaters we know today. Ingenuity is the mother of invention."
"The new Justice center building to the far left in the replaced the two banks that sat on the corner. The buildings prominent on the right were a department store, a drugstore, a restaurant and I think, a beauty salon."
Submitted by Glen Haney
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