I decided to make a trip through Brockton after roughly thirty
years away. Brockton is a city that, despite its questionable reputation in
recent years, is one that I remember as being vibrant and lively when I was a
kid. But the Brockton I found was sadly void of the energy that I remembered.
Gone are the landmarks that once characterized Brockton
East: Christo’s, the Brockton East Twin Cinema, Bradlees, Burger King,
Friendly’s, Red Lobster, and even the old Jack-in-the-Box. They have been
replaced by a handful of less than notable stores, a Home Depot, and an annex
to Massasoit Community College.
The energetic vibe that once reverberated the downtown area
of Brockton is also gone. Main Street
was once highlighted by thriving long-lasting businesses, the Brockton
Enterprise, the YMCA, and a variety of inviting jewelry and furniture stores.
Legion Parkway, the thoroughfare that once served as the location
of A.C. Grady Sporting Goods and Central Music is now just a go-between, an
uncelebrated turn that enables drivers to travel between Main Street and Warren
Ave.
Shopping mainstays such as Almys, Sears, and King’s
Department store have long since vanished, and although the Westgate Mall is
still in existence technically, its landscape has changed. Westgate Lanes
bowling alley is still in operation, but Putt-Putt Golf and Anderson-Little are
both gone from the Westgate entryway. The mall itself hasn’t changed much in
terms of layout, but you won’t find Wrangler Wranch, Thom McAn, Woolworth’s,
Child World, Chess King, or Musicland. The
Westgate Cinema is gone and, I think to everyone’s dismay, so is the York Steak
House.
Brockton South is also a shadow of what it once was. Once
lined with car dealerships on both sides of the road, you are no longer
inundated with opportunities to stop in and drive a new Volkswagen, Honda,
Ford, Pontiac, Toyota, or Datsun. The car dealerships have long since vacated
Brockton South. K-Mart is, ironically, still in operation at its original
location on South Main Street, and it is not hard to see why it is currently the
crème de la crème of South Brockton flanked by places such as the Dollar Store,
Family Dollar, .99 Country (for those who don’t wish to spend an entire dollar
at its two counterparts), and a gigantic establishment called It’s a Yard Sale (which I intuitively
believe is the one-time location of Gloria Stevens).
Somewhat saddened by what I had discovered, I did what any
self-respecting person would do if they wanted to get the real tenet of what
was going on in Brockton - I went to George’s Café. Within an hour, I struck up
a conversation with Pat Moynihan, an 80-year-old man with “the same birthday as
Brady, Eckersley, and Dave O’Brien,” he quickly advertised. Noticeably, Moynihan walked with only one
leg, employing the help of crutches. “I was a professional athlete,” said
Moynihan. “I’m pretty nimble, believe it
or not. I was a professional skier of all things. Got hit by a car. I grew up in
Brockton on Summer and East Streets.”
Moynihan talked at length about the working class character
of Brockton and the different families that have played an influential role in
the city. He talked about the now non-existent factories downtown where heavy
machinery once pounded out the soles of what would become new shoes, how the
windows to those buildings always had to be left open due to the heat that the
machines would create. “I admire how
hard these people worked,” said Moynihan pointing out the life of a
Brockton man who “made a living making boxes for shoes.”
“It’s a city,” said Donald Coward leaning over from the bar
claiming that he couldn’t help but listen in on our conversation. “I was born
and raised in Brockton, but it’s getting ridiculous. The city has changed so
much, spending all that money downtown. It’s not going to help. They spent
money trying to improve it with housing, with a brand new garage, a brand new
police station, and a brand new court house in the heart of the city, but
across the street there is an unemployment office, welfare, and people that are
homeless. Are you going to make an investment in that?”
One thing that Moynihan and Coward could agree on that has
not changed in Brockton over the years is the pizza, like the pizza made by the
Cape Cod Café on Main Street, still in business after seventy-two years.
“Brockton pizza. You can’t get it anywhere else in the country,” said Coward. “You
just can’t do it. People try to
replicate it, but they can’t.”
Even though Brockton has appeared to have undergone an urban
lobotomy of sorts, maybe the simple lasting legacy of the City of Champions
will be its pizza. With that said, I bid my new friends adieu at George’s Café
suggesting that all of that talk about pizza had made me hungry, that perhaps I
would order a small pizza on the way out and go catch a movie at the old
Skyview Drive-in.
“Can’t!” they shouted out in enthusiastic agreement. “It’s
closed.”
Thanks Pete!
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