bigkkola
1 post
Jan 15, 2009
12:21 PM
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I just wanted to know if anyone remembered these old fun places, I don't think I read about anyone mentioning the
Belmont Auto Drive-in and what about the Day-Bel theater on Smithville!I also loved to walk to ElderBeermans in East town shopping center and shop. There also use to be a bar on Linden close the corner of Smithville I think it was called the "Hair of the Dog". That was a crazy place.
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smurfnana
8 posts
Jan 16, 2009
6:41 PM
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The Belmont Drive In closed about 18? yrs. ago. My family went there quite often. We took our kids there a lot until they closed it.
I was at the Dabel the day they premiered the round screen. I forget what it was called. They showed How The West Was Won. They invited Scout troops. What I remember the most about that day was as we came out, a Blue Bird scout was crossing Smithville, and got hit by a car right in front of where we were standing. It's funny how things like that stick with you. My hubby and I had quite a few dates there. Our kids used to go there on Saturday afternoons before they closed it.
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driver62
154 posts
Jan 17, 2009
5:50 AM
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The movies with the round screen was called Cinerama.
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tlturbo
81 posts
Jan 19, 2009
6:39 AM
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Belmont Drive in operated until 1997 and was torn down in 1998. I spent many an evening there. Funny how we could always manage to 'watch the show' with ice and snow covering the windows. Those car heaters did work though. AHHHH - what todays kids missed.
I also went to the DayBel a lot. Go back a few pages on the 60's 70's page and you will see some posts. Also there is a search feature and you can fine where we talked about both these places a few months ago.
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WendyfromBcreek
4 posts
Apr 21, 2009
8:01 PM
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in the late 70s the Belmont was called "Elmo" because the B & "nt" lights wouldn't work! I remember flyers passed around Beavercreek HS for Elmo nights on Fridays! When I was a kid my parents took me there to see fun, family movies!
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bowa 68
6 posts
Dec 13, 2009
9:19 PM
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I loved the bowling alley. It was like going back in time.It also had the best people in the world bowling there.
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CurtT
13 posts
Dec 14, 2009
1:38 AM
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Me and a buudy of mine, Ray Jones used to sneek in there all the time on the weekends. I remember riding in somebodys trunk with 2 or 3 other people so we wouldn't have to pay, we got caught a few times. This all took place in the early 70's. I also remember taking a few dates there and parking in the the back, we didn't watch the movies very much if you know what I mean. LOL
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Doug68
45 posts
Dec 14, 2009
6:04 AM
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Curt, was wonderin......' - you mean the Submarine Races-n-stuff?
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tlturbo
173 posts
Dec 14, 2009
6:12 AM
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I watched a lot of submarine races down at Deweese Parkway.
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corvettes6
67 posts
Dec 14, 2009
4:48 PM
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tlturbo Deweese Parkway is totally changed the lower road down by the river is now a bike/walking path only the upper road remains the area by the Siebenthaler bridge is still there but a new brightly lit bridge is there taking care of seeing any subs. If you remember the lower road we use to race the crooked road from end to end for best time for five bucks did you get invoved with that?
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pat76
2 posts
Apr 20, 2010
1:37 PM
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I also remember walking to Eastown with a friend. I remember seeing movies at the Da-Bel theater but what was the name of the movie theater on Watervliet? Remember Lawson's on Watervliet and their 3 cent popsicle specials. Remember Burger C'hef on Smithville and the Barnaby's restaurant on Watervliet- they had the best burgers. I felt so grown up eating there with my friends and no parents! Remember the ice cream store near Dot's grocery store?
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roge
19 posts
Apr 20, 2010
3:31 PM
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I remember buying my wife her wedding rings at Allens Jewelers,and going to Slyders for a cold one years ago.
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donw
12 posts
Apr 28, 2010
8:47 PM
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>> but what was the name of the movie theater on Watervliet?
Cinema East. (To continue the pattern, the "Cinema South" was in Oakwood.)
Heh, Barnaby's restaurant - I was trying to remember the name of that place. It was the first thing to locate in the old Kroger's location, I believe, around 1970. They sold these ungodly large buckets of fries, and a friend convinced me to go there with him one day and gorge on french fries.
Last Edited by donw on Mar 28, 2013 12:16 AM
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Curt Dalton
294 posts
Apr 28, 2010
8:56 PM
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Belmont (1946-65)
Cinema East (1965-73)
712 Watervliet Avenue
The 1000 seat Belmont Theater opened on Christmas Day in 1946. The new $200,000 theater had taken almost two years to build, but many thought that it was worth the wait. The latest in projection and sound equipment brought the motion pictures to life, while the wide seats allowed patrons to enjoy the movie in comfort. The opening attraction was Centennial Summer. Disney cartoons were also a major attraction.
The Belmont’s opening ad extolled the virtues of the new theater, from it’s "golden-voiced sound equipment" to the colorful modernistic decorations and lighting. It even mentioned that the theater offered "automatically controlled modern air conditioning", a comfort, I’m sure, to patrons who didn’t think that Dayton had winters that were already cold enough.
The theater was quite popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s, with a policy of showing a double bill program, which usually consisted of a good second run film, followed by a B movie. The shows varied over the years, from westerns to Disney, as films became available.
In 1963 the theater began operations under H & K Enterprises, who leased the property from the Blue Bird Baking Co. An estimated $18,000 was earmarked for remodelling the interior of the theater, as well as newer projection and lighting equipment. Unfortunately, H & K, formed in January 1963 by John Holokan and John C. Keyes, steadily lost money, according to Holokan.
In 1965 Ralph H. Winkler, operator of the Cinema South, formed a new realty corporation known as Atrium Development Corp. Winkler then purchased the Belmont theater from Blue Bird and went on to lease the building to Cinemassociates, of which Winkler was president and Robert Mills was vice president and general manager. The theater was closed on August 1, 1965 for redecorating.
On August 18, 1965, the theater reopened with the movie Mary Poppins under the new name of Cinema East. The policy of the theater aimed for showing first run and strong subsequent run family films, with children’s matinee on weekends.
On September 14, 1966, the Cinema East offer a new curved screen measuring 50’ wide x 17’ high, one of the largest indoor screens in the area at the time. Installation of the screen was coupled with a new process of showing films called the ‘Ultra Harveyscope Deep Dimension’, a process developed by Daytonian John Harvey. The process allowed the use of a deeply-curved screen with conventional 35 mm motion picture film. It was only the second time the new process had been offered to the public and the first it was ever held in a large theater. The first attraction on the new screen was The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!, which was said to have held the audience spellbound.
Unfortunately the theater was destroyed by a fire in the early hours of June 5, 1973. The rear door was found to be open by fire inspectors, leading them to believe that the building had been broken into before the fire. Damage to the building was estimated at $100,000 with Winkler adding that it would cost another $250,000 to replace the theater.
The loss of the theater was a blow to the Belmont area. The Cinema East was well known for consistently showing both first run and revival films.
"I believe we have shown more quality films than most theaters in the city." said Robert Mills a few days after the fire.
The remains of the building were eventually demolished. A Kwik n’ Kold Drive-Thru is now located on the site (at least it was the last time I went by a few years ago).
Curt
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Hankster65
3 posts
May 04, 2010
11:37 AM
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I grew up in Belmont from the mid 50's till 1962. Here are a few places that I don't think have been previously mentioned.
Jack's Aquarium when they were in their infancy. He had a small apartment crammed with aquariums. It was located just off Watervaliet in the apartment building across from Tobias Funeral Home and behind the building that was for many years a night club called the Tradewinds.
Gallaghers Drugstore with that long old fashioned soda fountain. I used to walk there from Belmont Elementary for lunch.
Gastineau Hardware. Only exciting to a kid because up front they had a glass case filled with goofy toys like Chinese handcuffs, magic tricks, etc.
Kennett Building. In the basement was a record store where you could go into a private sound proof booth and listen to records. Also, every week you could get a list there of that week's top 40 records being played on WING radio. That list seemed very important at the time!
Belmont Bakery with their wonderful chocolate eclairs.
Treasure Chest Toys on the corner of Smithville and Watervliet in the buildiing that is now some sort of military collectibles store. My brother got his first job there for 75 cents an hour.
Angi's Restaurant. Hey, its now reopened! Good things do occasionally happen in Dayton.
Detrick's Market on the corner of Revere and Nordale (the street I grew up on.) I was there virtually every day. Remember all the tiny mom and pop groceries? Detrick's even had their own little butcher shop in back.
Wonderful memories and thanks Curt for such a wonderful site!
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donw
15 posts
May 11, 2010
11:49 AM
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@Hankster65
>> Jack's Aquarium
The building on Smithville across from Belmont Methodist Church at Bellaire Ave. was originally a post office. Jack's moved into it in the late 60s or early 70s when the post office closed.
>> Gallaghers Drugstore
Where was this?
>> Detrick's Market on the corner of Revere and Nordale (the street I grew up on.) I was there virtually every day. Remember all the tiny mom and pop groceries?
There was also a carryout one block away on Bellaire Avenue. It is now a house but the storefront and the tall concrete stoop is still present. Kids in the neighborhood used to steal cigarettes and candy from that store, which I think drove the old guy who owned the place out of business. That store was incredibly handy to pick up snacks for a trip to the drive-in.
Also there was apparently a church on Nordale Avenue. My mom got a Bible bookmark from a pastor there in the early 60s when we moved into the neighborhood, and it is marked "Belmont Wesleyan Methodist Church" and was at 519 Nordale.
Belmont Nursery was still around in 2007 or so the last time I drove around there.
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Hankster65
26 posts
May 11, 2010
6:30 PM
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Hey, Donw, good to hear from a fellow Belmont person. Gallagher's was on the north side of Watervliet just a door or two to the west of Kennett's. I could be wrong, but I think the building now houses a catering place and at one time housed a bakery. (Maybe Belmont bakery after they moved from Smithville and Watervliet. My memory is so FUZZY!)
I remember the Bellaire carryout very well. It was our "backup" to Detrick's. If Detrick's didn't have what we wanted it was off to Bellaire. Also, I had a friend directly across the street that I used to visit. (Terry Niehus, if that rings a bell.) This delinquent preferred buying his smokes out of the machine at the Cassano's on Smithville so I'll not take blame for the demise of the place!
You cannot believe how much time I spent at the Belmont Wesleyan Methodist Church. Five church services a week (honest), doing all the grass cutting and other yard work, and twice weekly doing janitorial work. Then there was all the other stuff, such as helping to put a new roof on the church, painting, putting new floors in the parsonage next door, etc, etc. All gratis, of course, because my mom believed in giving. It didn't do me any harm, and there were some great people there, but I'm pleased to say I became a "free thinker" at an early age and continue to be one. By the way, that pastor would have been the Rev. Marvin Taylor, a truly wonderful man. He's still alive and and is pastor to a church in West Virginia.
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Dia
7 posts
Dec 14, 2010
6:24 AM
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My two sets of aunts & uncles lived in Belmont in the 1950's - one couple on Ashland Ave. and the other around the corner on Smithville. I think the Moler's Dairy was close to Ashland on Smithville. We also used to pick up my aunt and drive up to the trolley turn around at the top of 3rd st. hill to park there and ride the bus into downtown.
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Leath
9 posts
Jan 09, 2011
11:13 PM
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Hi Tim!....It is incredible that u remember so many of the things I do...especially the chocolate eclairs...12 cents...I was allowed to stay over during lunch break from school to wander downtown Belmont and spent my lunch money on these more than once...huge!....yummy!...The toy store on the corner...Gastinous Harware...especially at xmas...the basement was crammed with toys...I remember a shoe store nearby where u could xray ur feet by sticking them into a slot on like one of those toll scales that used be everywhere where folks would pay a penny to see their weight!....also the drug store that had the best fizzy drinks...and of course the theater where u learned the yawn, arm around the girl thing :-)...and all the tiny groceries like u said in the 50's...and a lot of them did have butcher shops....and we could walk anywhere with no fear at a very young age...as u recall, the stupid Belmont Elm school sent u all the way home for lunch any weather....I remember walking quite a ways in below zero weather twice a day because of this....home for Cambells tomatoe soup and baloney sandwich...and back again till 3 PM
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asf56
3 posts
Feb 11, 2011
1:39 PM
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The shoe store was Max's Shoes, located on the SW side of Watervliet. Was Gastineau's on the same side? I recall going to both. Bought my first pair of swede shoes there (light blue, size 12). There is a photo on this site (Dayton 50s) of Watervliet showing Clark's drugstore at the intersection with Smithville. A few doors away on Watervliet is a hardware store called Fishers. Did they compete with Gastineau's, or were they the successor to Gastineau's who I recall is being next to or near Max's Shoes. I think Gastineau's relocated to Wilmington Pike near the intersection with Smithville. There is a Ritter's Ice Cream there now.
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FAITH
21 posts
Feb 18, 2011
11:32 AM
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I remember Max's Shoes- my folks got my sister's corrective shoes there in the early 70s.
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tlturbo
229 posts
Feb 18, 2011
2:46 PM
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I remember going to an aquarium store in a house just off of Smithville. This must have been the original Jack's but I don't remember the name. Then Jack's was in a brick building on the East side if Smithville in the late 60's Then I think he moved or opened another place on Linden just East of Smithville that overlooked I-35 in the back. I had raised a piranah named 'Beast' I had bought from Jack about an inch long. When I moved to FL in 72, I gave it to him as it was full grown, loved goldfish dropped in the tank and I couldn't take it to FL. Reminds me of a funny story. I lived in Coach & Four apts off Bigger Rd (I think) and I would go to the Elder Beermans pet dept in Centerville and buy 15-20 goldfish as food for Beast. One night a little old lady was netting the goldfish for me and commented on how nice it was to see a young person like me interested in keeping goldfish. I told her they were actually food for my piranah and she dumped them back in the tank and refused to sell me any.
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Perry401
5 posts
Feb 21, 2011
6:40 PM
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Max's Shoes would sell single shoes (Left or Right) to people who only needed one shoe -- such as a person with an amputated limb. They then either sold the odd shoe to someone who needed the other side, or would order a replacement shoe from the factory. They also could handle people with a large and small foot -- selling shoes from different pairs. This is one of the reasons they were considered a special shoe store in the area. My father had a dress shoe destroyed and got a single replacement of the same size, style, and color at Max's. After being buffed up and having a new heal installed, the old shoe and new shoe matched almost perfectly and nobody would have known they were from different batches and different ages.
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donw
79 posts
Feb 21, 2011
6:55 PM
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Also, don't forget Clark's Pharmacy, the predecessor to the region's Mr. Prescription. I mean the glass and aluminum fronted suburbanish store on the south side of Watervliet Avenue next to Morse Avenue that operated in the mid 1960s through the 80s. (The current Belmont Mr. Prescription is in a bank that was built around 1970.)
This is a nice page that has a picture of the Clarks:
http://clarksrx.com/about-us
I'm guessing that the "Mr. Clark" that we knew in the neighborhood was the gentleman on the left (assuming that the picture is 15+ years old, and it looks like an older family snapshot.) He was a younger man when he worked in the pharmacy in the 60s, so there is no way that he was the same Clark who started the store in 1939.
Mr. Clark indulged me as a kid when I would go in there with my grandmother and babble about science projects in which I was interested. That pharmacy was my #1 place in Belmont for Mad magazine paperbacks, kites that would get lost in trees, comic books, "Bun" chocolate clusters, and other wastes of my meager allowance. :)
Last Edited by on Feb 21, 2011 7:16 PM
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donw
80 posts
Feb 21, 2011
7:15 PM
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Now looking at Google street view of Nordale and Smithville. I note that in place of what used to be the "Belmont Building", a 3 or so story red brick building at the corner of Nordale and Smithville, there is now a strip shopping center.
For some odd reason I'm remembering a teen center or club in that building.
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plr2
2 posts
Nov 29, 2011
3:27 PM
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Don, that 3 story building was originally the "Sunday school" part of the old Belmont EUB church. may well have later been used as a teen center. the church sat behind it at on the sw corner of Smithville and Watervliet. the church itself was relocated to the sw corner of Smithville and Bellaire in the mid '50s. Belmont elementary used a couple of the rooms in the 3 story for kindergarten at least for a while, I attended there from the beginning of school until Christmas break of 1953. the entrance was beside the alley from Nordale north to the parking lot. paul
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plr2
3 posts
Nov 29, 2011
3:38 PM
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speaking of west side of the block between Nordale and Bellaire, anyone remember the service station at Nordale and the glass greenhouses that were south of there all the way to Bellaire and sat right on the sidewalk? the Bank, now, Mr. Prescription, replaced the gas station and the Dairy Queen, strip of stores, and lastly the Burger Chef replaced the greenhouses. for what it is worth, I was the boy who stamped out the burger patties for Red Barn and Burger Chef back in '68 and '69. paul
Last Edited by on Nov 30, 2011 9:06 AM
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theWiz
5 posts
Sep 11, 2012
11:26 PM
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does anyone remember a guy in Belmont named Norman Eagle (later he changed his name to Maurice Leclerc L'Aignon). You couldn't miss him--he had a RAGING case of Tourettes and would be seen walking alot on Smithville between Watervliet and Patterson. I remember him wearing an Afro wig (he was bald!)and he wore the wig BACKWARDS!! He lived behind where Jacks Aquarium was with his parents and eventually moved to an apartment in the East End and committed suicide.
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Hankster65
81 posts
Nov 14, 2012
10:31 AM
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PLR2, I remember the service station VERY well. I grew up on Nordale so that's where we virtually always bought our gas. I remember how friendly the guys were and I especially remember the 5 cent candy bar machine.
Here's the really cool part...Curt has a good picture of the place right here on this site. Go to the Images section and look at Dayton in the 1950's. It's the 244th image shown and is titled, "Three S Service Station, Smithville 1957." I remember everybody called the place by the head owner's name, but after racking my brain I can't remember what it was.
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Curt Dalton
644 posts
Nov 14, 2012
2:46 PM
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Here is a link to the Three S Service Station Hankster65 mentioned.
Three S Service Station
Curt
Last Edited by on Nov 14, 2012 2:51 PM
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DLB1941
5 posts
Nov 23, 2012
12:12 PM
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Do you remember the Belmont Billiards from the late 50's to 1960's owned at the time owned by Adolph and can not remember his last name(later owned by Sam the Marathon
man Di"Orio) any way they allowed younger kids in. Starting about 4pm M-F when the guys got off work-there use to be some excellent shooters come in-5 rail shots etc. all called to the right pocket for fair amounts of money.Bill Owens,Sam Diorio,Tall Jack ,Don Bender,Jerry Merkert Jerry lost his life in auto accident.The greatest asset of Belmont was the people.Truly friendly
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theWiz
32 posts
Nov 24, 2012
8:16 AM
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Back in the 70s Belmont Billiards was one of the lunch spots for a group of us mail carriers who had routes in Belmont. We would go to Angi's for cabbage rolls, Slyders, the Bullpen and of course Belmont Billiards. The guy behind the bar was Mo Harshman, a real funny fellow and slow as molasses in winter!!! We would also go to the Bowling alley across from Slyders.
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John Kreuzer
3 posts
Jan 08, 2013
5:01 PM
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donw carryout one block away on Bellaire Avenue.
If my memory serve me this was Stubbs market he was an old guy when I grew up there in the late 60 early 70 I went to school with his son. started hanging with him because we could buy beer from the store.
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John Kreuzer
4 posts
Jan 08, 2013
5:04 PM
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All what was the name of the Parana at Jacks aquarium
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John Kreuzer
5 posts
Jan 08, 2013
5:08 PM
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I love this Blog site Belmont was my stomping ground I lived on King Ave and worked parkmoor worked there in the early 70. What a great neighborhood to grow up in.
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donw
225 posts
Jan 08, 2013
6:58 PM
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I thought the name of the old guy who owned, lived in and ran the Bellaire carry out store was Mr. Wood. I could be wrong but I heard two or three other kids call him Mr. Wood. I ran across his obituary in the early 1980s - he had moved to Preble County, I think.
Last Edited by on Jan 08, 2013 6:59 PM
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tlturbo
442 posts
Jan 09, 2013
4:48 AM
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John - what about the Piranah at Jacks? The one I gave him about 1970 I called BEAST. He was a Red Bellied Piranah (the real one with teeth) not a fake Black Piranah.
Another question for those that lived in Belmont. There was a street just N of the DaBel Theater (maybe one or two streets over) that went back East and dead ended at I believe a railroat track (maybe it just dead ended). ANYWAY, there was a guy that lived in the last house on the right at the deadend. He raced cars and had I believe a black big block Camero. He also dated a girl (Jill???) who drove all around in a black Chevy II with a straight axle. He put a clutch in my 66 vette for me. Also had a BIG St Bernard dog. Ring any bells?
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87 Buick GN
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