Fair booth holds Park memories
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“We’re going to open this back up and restore it to what it used to be,” Atnip said of the Park Theater, prompting area residents to reminisce and think of what many said was a simpler time.
Display items making their debut at the fair cabin were associated with or found in the Park Theater during its operation, which began on Main Street in 1939. A fire gutted the building in 1947, but the theater re-opened and operated until 1986.
It was a popular place for youth, according to Atnip’s brother, George Atnip, who stopped by to show his support for renovating the building and restoring it to its former glory.
“As a young person, it was like a focal point for what young teen-agers did in the late ’60s and early ’70s. It was a place we met,” he said. “Other than the Ben Lomond Drive-in, there wasn’t much to do in McMinnville. On Sundays, my dad would drop me off in town. I’d go get something to eat and go to the Park Theater and they’d pick me up in the afternoon.”
Together with his wife and step-children at the cabin Tuesday, Darrin Wilson also had fond memories. He said they guessed most of the answers right after taking a nostalgic Park Theater quiz, which has been another popular attraction at the cabin this week.
Wilson added his name to the list of people who would like to see it re-opened at some point. At present, Park Theatre Group members and McMinnville aldermen are negotiating a lease agreement after the city purchased the building this year, and organizers know they have their fund-raising work cut out for them before any of that happens.
The Wilsons said even the children have developed an appreciation of the theater. He said he guessed many others like him existed in the community.
“I heard they’re trying to renovate it and I think it’s a great thing,” added Tina Smock, who also dropped by to examine the cabin’s contents. “I think it would be wonderful. “Anytime anything could be restored back to its original state, it adds value back to the community.”
That’s the spirit Bruce Atnip, who took the week off from work in order to stand by at the cabin along with other volunteers, was hoping for.
“The Park Theater is like a big monument that says, ‘This is McMinnville. This is who we are and what we do,'” he said, adding the historical significance alone is enough to keep him going.
“If we lose our history such as the Park Theater and other things, the next generation doesn’t know that history and we lose who we are as a people.”