Page 9 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Winter 2021 - Online Magazine

Local
CENTER CITY OF
A destination that bridges our historic past with a thriving future!
by Beth Duke, Executive Director of Center City
istoric downtown Amarillo
has a new life thanks to
HCenter City of Amarillo.
Amarillo’s downtown mirrors the
history of the city herself: from early
pioneer days as a railroad town to
a thriving retail shopping district
in the post-World War II era to a
decade of neglect and finally to a
bright future.
Longtime Amarilloans will
remember the glory days of
downtown. Cars cruised up and
down Polk Street. Polk Street was
the main street for shopping at The
Marizon, White & Kirk, Blackburn’s,
Colbert’s, Butler’s Shoes, and
History
AMARILLO
Cizon’s Jewelers to
name a few. The
bargain aisles of
Skaggs, Levine’s,
Kress, and
Woolworth kept
shoppers browsing
for hours.
Downtown
was the hub of
entertainment, too. Courtesy of Amarillo Public Library
Movie theaters on
Polk Street included the luxurious latest records at Cooper & Melin
Paramount Theater and smaller record store on Polk Street.
venues with the State and Victory
theaters. The late Eddie Melin Then – in the 1960s – three things
welcomed airmen from the Amarillo happened to change downtown:
Air Base and teens eager for the • The Amarillo Air Base closed.
This meant that suddenly 20,000
airmen from the base were
gone, along with their families.
Downtown lost customers as the
population plummeted.
• Amarillo High School burned
in 1970. Students saved priceless
artwork and some mementos,
but the main buildings were a
total loss. As the administration
planned to rebuild, the census
showed growth in the south and
west instead of the center of the
city. The “new” Amarillo High
Courtesy of Amarillo Public Library
9 Amarillo Senior Link