Gone but not forgotten- Old Corpus Christi (San Antonio, Austin: theatre, high school)

[panthercityhorn]

Originally Posted by Marlow

Wasn't there a Shopper's World or something similar at the Woolco site? It's a Sutherland's now.

I can verify Shopper's World location on SPID, or Lexington Boulevard as it was known in the 60's. Worked weekends in the meat market when in HS.

And the first cheap hamburger stand was Burger Chef, but the price was .15. I still remember the jingle in their tv/radio ad which was "Fifteen cents, a nickel and a dime, at burger chef, you eat better every time." Maddening stuff I tell ya.

[panthercityhorn]

Originally Posted by Marlow

After arguing about what to do with the Memorial Coliseum for 5 years, it's finally being torn down. It was built by a famous architect, Richard Collier, as a WWII memorial and was the civic auditorium for many years. Then the American Bank Center arena was built and it closed. Some people wanted to save it and the city spent 5 years arguing about it, but in the end could not come up with an economically feasible plan that didn't involve basically giving it to investors. Now, there's yet another committee meeting to decide what to do with the land. It'll probably be 5 more years before they come up with a plan.

At the rate the city council spends money for studies and experts to advise on what to do, how to do it, etc, they should turn it into a cemetary to bury all of the people who have died since the beginning of this fiasco and will not be around to see what became of this prime real estate. Living in Ft. Worth, I have become spoiled by the generosity of the many befactors who have helped our city become what it has as well as the city council which seeks to find a reason why to do something instead of one for why not to do it (generally without special interests reaping the financial benefit) Sorry for the rant.

[kf5wd]

There obviously was a ferris wheel there in the 40's but I don't remember it, probably because I couldn't afford to ride it. I moved from Corpus in November, 1959 so can't speak to what the place looked like after that. I do remember getting stuck in line waiting for the Bascule Bridge many times during my 23 years there.

[SueBHuni]

How about Burger Chalet off of Everhart and Price's Homeade Ice Cream on SPID ... what happened to all these places? I can answer that ... sadly we all decided to shop and eat in the new chains and the independent business that supported our schools, our baseball teams and sometimes put food on our table while holding a tab fell by the wayside. It would do us all well to search out those independent local businesses and support them whenever we can ... when we lose local businesses we lose a little part of our South Texas Culture and hometown flavor.

[SueBHuni]

There was a Ferris Wheel on North Beach ... there was also an Ice Skating Rink and a small Carnival type Amusement Center which was there from 1946 to the early 1960's. The North Beach area looked like an east coast boardwalk until the early 60's when a hurricane and flooding washed most of it away. There was even a restaurant out on piers called the Lahala House owned by a man named Harry Porter. They were famous for their salad dressing and fresh fish dishes. This restaurant was destroyed in a storm and Mr. Porter opened the Torch Restaurant on Alameda which has since been sold to a wonderful Greek Family that still serves "Lahala House" dressing on their salads.

[kf5wd]

Thanks for the memories....

[ohmanon]

Price's was so wonderful, boy, how sad chains now reign. I believe we called the owner 'Junior' and when our family moved to Houston, he adopted our crazy, barking German Shepherd, Pedro...I think the dog proved too much for him also as Pedro ended up at a convent.

There was also a little restaurant around Six Points that I sure wish I could remember the name of, The Chuck Wagon or Ranchhouse that had delicious food, and a place called the Golden Dome on SPID that served up just the best hamburgers and milkshakes. Then there was Roy's BBQ - on Sunday's my mom would take us all out for a 25 cent chopped beef sandwich and it was good stuff...yes, great memories.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by SueBHuni

How about Burger Chalet off of Everhart and Price's Homeade Ice Cream on SPID ... what happened to all these places? I can answer that ... sadly we all decided to shop and eat in the new chains and the independent business that supported our schools, our baseball teams and sometimes put food on our table while holding a tab fell by the wayside. It would do us all well to search out those independent local businesses and support them whenever we can ... when we lose local businesses we lose a little part of our South Texas Culture and hometown flavor.

Amen to that!! Burger Chalet? where was that? you don't mean Burger chef at Everhart & Alameda maybe?
Burger Chef helped out everyone who needed food and ice after Hurricane Celia. Ppl stood in line to get hamburger meat and buns to cook on portable coleman stoves. Burger Chef also gave me free drinks and burgers to feed a group of us who were decorating for a King High School event once, must have been about 1979, 1980 or so. They were so generous to us. I hated to see them go. The lot that fills the corner of Everhart & Alameda will never measure up to Burger Chef.

[John Roman]

I've lived in Corpus Christi since 1978 so for some of the older info I may not be able to help. But I will run down every thing I can remember from back then and what has happened to it now. I'll do my best. I'll start with downtown and work my way up. Here goes

Memorial Coliseum: Gone. Demolished this year. No plans for what may take it's place.
Elmo's Diner: Still there except now it's called City Diner. Same great food and atmosphere.
Ritz Theatre: Currently undergoing restoration. There are a couple of websites dedicated to restoring this amazing theatre.Here is one. [url=http://ccpatch.squarespace.com/]The Ritz Theatre Revival - *Home[/url]
Centre Theatre: Still there. Hasn't been used in about 5 years. Was being used for concerts and comedians.
Kress Department Store: Is now an art house,club,and surf shop. Believe it or not the original lunch counter is still intact. All it needs is a good cleaning and a renter. I know, I went inside it last year. Everything is still there. Very cool.
Prices Chef: The restaurant at 6 Points is still up and running. Still terrific.
Tower Theatre: At 6 Points has been gone for about 10 years now. A CVS is in it's place.
The Donut Hole: Still serving 'em up. Same place across from Wynn seale Jr.High.
ButterKrust Bakery: It's still standing, but hasn't been operating in years.
Shoppers World: Is now the Corpus Christi Trade Center. It's in the location of a very old drive in theatre. I can't remember the name.
Gibsons:On Kostoryz was turned into an Albertsons and now it's a college test center.
Angelo's Pizza: On Staples closed about 3 years ago. The small building is still there.
Mann Theatre: A church now.
Bel Air Drugs: Is now a Subway
Hamlin Pharmacy: Just celebrated 50 years in business. It has expanded to the 2 shops next door. The original lunch counter is still there as well as the original cook.
Concrete Corvette: still at the Hamlin Shopping Center. Still with the red neon 'For Sale' sign.
Parkdale Plaza:Demolished this year. Making way for a new Wal-Mart.
Cine 6: Liquidation store or something like that. It had been a dance club for a while.
Sunrise Mall: Terrible. There may be 12 stores operating there now. The fountain and game rooms are now more. The dollar Movies still runs but that's about the only attraction now.
Padre Staples Mall: Now called La Palmera. Very nice. This is a beautiful place to shop now. Lots of choices.

If I can think of a few other things I'll add too this. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

[doctorjef]

I don't suppose there is still a department store there called Lichtenstein's (sp?). They used to be CC's premier department store, located downtown. They had a tea room that served, among other items, yummy hot fudge sundaes (or at least I thought so at the age of 6).