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Marvin Mobley
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Posted: Sat Dec 9th, 2006 08:56 am |
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After rereading the whole section on Allapattah, the words JByron and Red Cross Drug store.......
If my memory is correct, Red Cross Drug store, faced on Flagler and extended all the way thru the block to 1st Street. Either in 1945 or 1946 the downtown store was destroyed by fire. Every thing in the store was shoveled into dump trucks that carried it to a landfill on 32nd Ave and around 55th Street, next to Gladeview grade school. So many people went there and digging in the piles of stuff to salvage items the police finally had to send patrol cars there to keep folks away, as they were creating traffic problems as well as problems for the land fill. I recall only one visit to the store when I was around 7 or 8 years old - (1941-42) and seeing a roulette wheel and other gaming items that could be purchased. One other observation, several posters have called the Regent Theater, (next to Live and Let Live Drugs) the Dade theater. The Dade theater was on the north side of 36th Street next to the drugstore on the corner of 17th Ave. and 36th Street. It was reported here in the forum that the theater and Live and Let Live Drug were demolished. My understanding was it was placed on the national preservation list and had been restored . Shore would like a conformation on this......
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bessnfloyd
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Posted: Sat Dec 9th, 2006 08:57 am |
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I remember hearing about that fire, but we didn't live here then. I'll bet there's lots of people that do remember it now.
Live and Let Live got really old and shabby. It was one of those old stucco buildings that had semi-modernized, but the wide pine floorboards inside (which contributed to the total destruction of the five & dime in '69) would creak alarmingly when you walked on them. While they had modernized the doors, windows and fixtures, and the ceiling was supported by pillars, it was still a very old, decrepit building. Things got pretty bad in Allapattah including the crime rate, civil disturbances and riots, the influx from Mariel which included many criminals and mentally unstable persons which Castro got rid of, gang wars and holdups. From the late '60's until the early '80s, well over a decade of unrest led to many Allapattah die-hards to throw in the towel and move out. Businesses left as well, whether burned out, robbed repeatedly, afraid for their employees safety or just losing business. Many closed early or otherwise cut back hours.
We had an "interesting" experience at Live and Let Live in the late '60s. As a result of the unrest, they had purchase a trained guard dog, a HUGE German Shepherd, probably the best choice at the time as anyone could have just hacked a hole in the old roof or walls and today's sophisticated alarm systems didn't exist. One evening we arrived just after closing and when we tried the glass door, the dog attacked with such ferocity it left saliva all over the inside of the glass. On another evening, we went to fill a prescription for a sick child very late. While waiting we wandered to mid-store, where Floyd leaned against a pillar while I squatted down at a low record rack to see if there was anything I couldn't live without. Another employee, nervously deciding to close a few minutes early and not hearing or seeing anyone in the store, let the dog loose. He made a beeline for us, skidded to a stop and started smelling me all over. When the pharmacist called us and didn't get an answer, he realized the dog was out and panicked. They found us holding perfectly still while the dog humped my shoulder; we had a female spaniel in season and that was probably all that saved us from getting shredded.
Dade Theater was already ancient history when we moved in here in 1960, I'm quite sure. Regent was torn down not too many years later, and the lot stood vacant for years. Live and Let Live couldn't be salvaged, and while there was some talk of putting it on a restoration list, that just wasn't feasible, and a new modern building was built, with a big Medical Center, the Northwest Medical Group (MCCI) on the theater site and I believe on the second floor of Live and Let Live as well.
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Bess W.
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