Try your hand at identifying structures
that are part of Wilkes-Barre’s history
@BYLNBy TOM MOONEY [emailprotected]
There’s a lot of history in Wilkes-Barre. See if you can identify these old
buildings and sites, all of which have been swept away by time or
redevelopment. Answers are on Page …
1) Wow! Is it a castle, or what? This imposing edifice stood in the third
block of South Main Street from 1890 to 1966, when it was torn down to make
room for a parking garage. Originally designed as a meeting hall, in its later
years it housed a movie theater.
2) No, it’s not the Hollywood Bowl. But this big outdoor bandshell-covered
stage served much the same purpose for audiences in the 1920s and 1930s before
it and a nearby zoo were abandoned.
3) This pleasant-looking little rest area between South Main and South
Washington streets opened early in 1972. It was supposed to offer downtown
workers a place to meet over outdoor lunch and to provide a terminal for local
buses.
4) Here’s an architect’s drawing of the nicest building you never saw.
That’s right – “never.” Planned during the era of downtown urban
redevelopment, it never got beyond the conceptual stage.
5) This downtown business street sees a rare moment of quiet in 1928,
probably on a Sunday or very early in the morning. On weekdays and evenings it
would have been awash in shoppers, workers, automobiles and streetcars. Note
the tracks in the center of the photo. A few of the buildings remain today. Do
you know which ones?
6) No one alive remembers this building, Wilkes-Barre’s first church. In
the early 19th century it stood in a prominent spot, one that was the site
(until 1909) of a succession of Luzerne County courthouses.
7) Is it a biosphere? How about a downed blimp? A spacecraft, perhaps?
Actually, this forward-looking inflatable structure was part of the city’s
recreational complex in the 1970s. It was popular for a while, but don’t look
for it there today.
8) Dancing with time. The second floor of this building, demolished during
the redevelopment era, was the site of many happy weekend evenings for local
young people down through the years – and also drew some famous names. The
site is now occupied by several businesses, offices and a senior citizens
center.
Answers:
1) The GAR Hall: The local Civil War veterans group Grand Army of the
Republic built this fortress-type structure as a meeting hall and museum. But
as members died off, the building passed into use as a movie house and union
headquarters. It was torn down in the 1960s so that the Park and Lock South
could be built on the site.
2) The Kirby Park bandshell: The showpiece of Kirby Park, which had been
developed through the generosity of dime-store magnate Fred M. Kirby, it
offered a venue for concerts and civic events. It was in a section of the park
that was cut off when the dikes were built after the 1936 flood.
3) Dyer Lane: Wilkes-Barre officials had high hopes for this pleasant
little gathering place behind Provincial Tower. But the Luzerne County
Transportation Authority never moved its buses there, pretty much making the
facility irrelevant. It has been bulldozed as part of the preparation for a
downtown movie complex.
4) The City Hall that never was: This was supposed to be Wilkes-Barre’s new
City Hall, running along East Market Street between North Washington and
Public Square. It was to replace the 1890s building at East Market and North
Washington streets, which according to the drawing, would have been torn down.
Only the police station, seen at rear, was ever constructed.
5) South Main Street: The first block looks like a shopper’s paradise here.
Note the rails for the streetcars that ferried thousands of people downtown
every day. If you look closely just down the street on the right-hand side you
can see the old F.M. Kirby store and the Boston Store, predecessor of
Boscov’s.
6) Old Ship Zion: Several denominations shared this house of worship,
located on Public Square. Eventually, along with a few other early buildings,
it was torn down in favor of the Luzerne County Courthouse. When the present
courthouse was built on North River Street early in the 20th century, the last
of the old ones on the square was torn down and the plot of ground became the
park it is today.
7) The Coal Street Aquadome: Coal Street Park was once the site of a
remarkable swimming pool – one that was open-air during the summer, with an
inflatable dome put up over it so it could be used all winter too. Eventually
maintenance problems and costs caught up with it and it was taken down. The
outdoor swimming pool remains at the park.
8) The Orondo Ballroom: In the 1940s and 1950s, couples could dance to
everything from the big-band sound of the Dorsey brothers to the earliest
local rock groups. This building wrapped around the corner of Public Square
and East Market Street next to the Paramount Theater, now the Kirby Center,
with the dance hall on the second floor. It later became known as the Stardust
Ballroom.
