Long ago on independence square (Clinton, Union: safety, retire, property)

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Did it look like the Englewood Theater screen could be the largest movie screen in the state of Missouri as one web site says?

It is large, but I'm not sure if it was larger than the Midland in KC. Time for research...

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I just recently drove by the Sanitarium and the big hospital and the satellite medical building are all sitting vacant and going to waste as well as the large parking garage across the street on Forest.

Same for the Medical Center of Independence.

MCI is indeed vacant and rotting away, but the old San is sort of still alive. The original building is long gone (it was the nursing school at one time). The North tower, where most of us entered the world, was taken down about a year ago. The medical office building that sits right at the corner is currently vacant. The southern portion of the hospital, which opened about 1975, is now home to the offices of the Indep school district, and is also a business incubator.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

It is large, but I'm not sure if it was larger than the Midland in KC. Time for research...

I think the web site was talking of current day screen sizes.

The Empire Theater (at one time the RKO and I think lately the AMC 12) had a Cinerama screen that dwarfed anything and everything. That theater was a few doors down from the Loews Midland.

I don't know how a Cinerama screen would stack up against an IMAX screen, though.

By the way the Midland at one time was converted into a sports area. This was around 1961.

The team that played there?: The Kansas City Stars, of the National Bowling League.

There were two or three lanes extending level from the back wall to the stage. One paid scaled prices to sit in any of the theaters seats, except those the lanes took up.

Kansas City was in the Eastern Division and played against the New York Gladiators and the Twin City Skippers, among others.

The whole concept of having bowling teams representing a city did not go over very well. I don't believe the league even made it to the World Series before one team after another folded. Kansas City's team lasted until the fat lady sang, though.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I think the web site was talking of current day screen sizes.

The Empire Theater (at one time the RKO and I think lately the AMC 12) had a Cinerama screen that dwarfed anything and everything. That theater was a few doors down from the Loews Midland.

I don't know how a Cinerama screen would stack up against an IMAX screen, though.

By the way the Midland at one time was converted into a sports area. This was around 1961.

The team that played there?: The Kansas City Stars, of the National Bowling League.

There were two or three lanes extending level from the back wall to the stage. One paid scaled prices to sit in any of the theaters seats, except those the lanes took up.

Kansas City was in the Eastern Division and played against the New York Gladiators and the Twin City Skippers, among others.

The whole concept of having bowling teams representing a city did not go over very well. I don't believe the league even made it to the World Series before one team after another folded. Kansas City's team lasted until the fat lady sang, though.

Who was on that team, did your information say? I'd be curious if Independence/Sugar Creek's Tony Mithelavage (sp.) was on that team. He was quite the sensation about that time.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

Who was on that team, did your information say? I'd be curious if Independence/Sugar Creek's Tony Mithelavage (sp.) was on that team. He was quite the sensation about that time.

I don't have any info on the Kansas City Stars team members. The league salary for each player was 6-$20,000 and apparently many professional players could make more back then by being on their own.

[WCHS'59]

I did find one player's name on the web--Joe Joseph.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I did find one player's name on the web--Joe Joseph.

I saw that and don't remember him. I do think the best bowler in KC back then was Bob Chase and he was the team captain.

[SilverDoc]

[quote=WCHS'59;25486593]Thank you pearjas. This is quite interesting. Guess we will have to wait and see what this is all about.

The location of this "coming soon" is on west Maple Street across from the now gone grand old Post Office building. Going into the door way shown to the left of the "coming soon" sign and then into the lower level was what might have been the last family eating place on the square in the "good old days" before most everything went out.

This was the location of the Tom Sawyer restaurant.[/quote


Before it was the restaurant, it was the Western Auto store.

[SilverDoc]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Thank you pearjas. This is quite interesting. Guess we will have to wait and see what this is all about.

The location of this "coming soon" is on west Maple Street across from the now gone grand old Post Office building. Going into the door way shown to the left of the "coming soon" sign and then into the lower level was what might have been the last family eating place on the square in the "good old days" before most everything went out.

This was the location of the Tom Sawyer restaurant.

Before it was the restaurant, it was Western Auto.

[WCHS'59]

[quote=SilverDoc;25646601]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Thank you pearjas. This is quite interesting. Guess we will have to wait and see what this is all about.

The location of this "coming soon" is on west Maple Street across from the now gone grand old Post Office building. Going into the door way shown to the left of the "coming soon" sign and then into the lower level was what might have been the last family eating place on the square in the "good old days" before most everything went out.

This was the location of the Tom Sawyer restaurant.[/quote


Before it was the restaurant, it was the Western Auto store.

Back in the mid to late fifties, there was a fad going around that had young guys replacing their automobile red tail light lenses with a red tail light lens that had a small round blue lens in the middle. When hitting the brakes, this really made a rear end sparkle and it was cool man.

I had a '53 Ford with round tail lights maybe four inches in diameter and the blue lens was maybe a half inch in diameter right in the middle of the red portion.

The Western Auto store there at Osage and Maple was the place to go to buy those and a lot of other automobile accessory things, including the dice that we used to hang from the mirror. The red and blue combination tail light lens were, I think, $2.98 for a pair, which was not chump change back then.

It was not too long before the state outlawed those tail lights and everyone that had switched over had to switch back. Back then each state had its own laws concerning motor vehicles but at some point each state subscribed to a Universal Motor Vehicle Law.

[SilverDoc]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Thank you pearjas. This is quite interesting. Guess we will have to wait and see what this is all about.

The location of this "coming soon" is on west Maple Street across from the now gone grand old Post Office building. Going into the door way shown to the left of the "coming soon" sign and then into the lower level was what might have been the last family eating place on the square in the "good old days" before most everything went out.

This was the location of the Tom Sawyer restaurant.

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

Would you share the link to the online Polk's? That would save me some trips to the library, and could be helpful in Geneaology research.

Sent you a DM.

Lambert Moon's was still in business in the early 70s. I'm sure of that on account'a it was one of the customers on my paper route.

The '46 Polk's has a Councilman named J. Orrin Moon, a rather uncommon surname (ok, Wally Moon too :-) I wonder if he was connected to the printing business?

I would be interested in the online Polk's, also!