It’s maybe a mile closer to Osawatomie, which is where all of my old reference books place it, but it claims a Paola address. The Kansas Midway was built in 1952 or 1953 and holds fewer than 300 cars. Of the dozens of Midways that were ever built, only seven are still in operation today. Drive-ins needed to be outside of town, so why not build one where it could draw from two potential audiences? That land in the middle of nowhere was typically the cheapest was just a bonus. It was a common name (at least a half dozen just in North Carolina, for example) for a common situation. The years have been rough on a lot of the Midway drive-ins. It’s Day 107 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I left the I-70 Drive-In in Kansas City MO and drove just less than an hour southwest of the metro area to the Midway Drive-In Theatre, which is midway between Paola and Osawatomie KS. Status - renovating.Photo by Drive-In 54 via Cinema Treasures LK Architects created a design to move the gutted building into a vibrant arts center dedicated to African-American heritage in the Wichita area. The building has been given vibrant murals on its outside, an infrastructure change on its interior, and a restoration of its marquee, attractor, and vertical blade. Power CDC purchased the Dunbar at auction for $25,000 and has been renovating the property since. Starting in 1990, the building was designated as a local landmark and, in 2008, it was listed on the National Register of Historical Places. But the Dunbar remarkably staved off demolition due to great work by the community to save the historically relevant former theater. A downturn in the area led to the vacant property being condemned by the City of Wichita - a certain goner several time during and after urban renewal in which many similar era structures were eradicated. The Dunbar participated in a city-wide World War II patriotic visit by Dororthy “Dottie” Lamour who came to Wichita on Apas part of the Victory Pledge campaign that also timed out with her feature film, “The Fleet’s In.” A neighboring ice cream parlor and nearby drug store served as de facto concession stands for many patrons prior to or after Dunbar movies, live shows, or community events.ĭickinson sold or leased the venue in 1948 - likely the latter as a 15-year subleasing agreement - to independent interests. The Dunbar Theatre was taken on by Dickinson Theatres during World War II. (The North End / McKinley Park Neighborhood are known now as Old Town and McAdams neighborhoods.) Fading due to the Depression, the hub of African American nightlife moved slightly northward to Cleveland and Ninth Street area. That hub once existed from Water and South Main but began to gravitate to the North End / McKinley Park Neighborhood - especially on and near the Main Street area of the Neighborhood that thrived into the 1920s. The venue at North Cleveland Street represented a shift of the hub of African American commerce and nightlife. The Dunbar was named for poet / author Paul Laurence Dunbar. Harmon maximized safety and space usage in the 500-seat venue. Economical design by architect Raymond M. The venue had Brenkert projectors and RCA sound at launch. The opening program featured Dorothy Lamour on the “Road to Zanzibar,” Mantan Moreland in 1941’s “The Gang’s All Here,” and a cartoon. The Dunbar Theatre launched for American Enterprises Inc. In the silent era, the Melrose turned Gilpin Theatre had launched on Main Street in 1921. The Dunbar Theatre was at least Wichita’s second African American movie house.
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