BROCKTON ACCORDING TO GILLESPIE
This column originally appeared on Wicked Local
                                         
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 They have been replaced by a handful of less than notable stores, a Home Depot, and an annex to Massasoit Community College.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.” 

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