By Rick Farris
This is where the Main Street Gym once stood. The Gym was torn down twenty-five years ago, but it still exists in the memories of a few Today, after a quarter century as a parking lot, new construction is under way.
As I look at that driveway, I recall how it led cars thru a tunnel that took tham to a parking lot in the rear of the gym. That tunnel had once been a burlesque theatre that had closed down. The front and rear wall were knocked out to provide access to the rear parking lot. As we'd walk back thru the tunnel to the gym entrance on Main St. you could see the theatre's rusted, antique lighting fixtures still attached to the walls and ceilings. Looking at the photos, just to the left of the driveway, where the gate has opened, marks where the gym entrance was. "World's Leading Boxers Traing Here Daily", the sign in front read. As you pulled open the doors leading to a stairway that took you up into the gym, you'd immediatly here the tapping of speed bags, the sound of jump ropes hitting the floor, punches thudding against heavy bags and the bell. In three minute intervals the gym bell rang all day, until the gym closed in the evening. Main Street is evolving. It is no longer the place I remember. It's no longer a desperate place, it's more of a "trendy" place. In other words, it's no longer a place for a boxing gym. Not the type gym I respect. The street people now sip "Starbucks", the winos are long gone.
Progress. What's the world coming too?
-Rick Farris
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