Hello again. I have finally found the newspaper article that describes the Rockland Strand fire. It was an $80,000 fire on a Monday night that started just after 10PM, and forced 40 patrons out of the building. Theater manager Bernard Watts thought the fire was caused by a defective heater. It was a General alarm fire fought by five departments, and was finally brought under control after 3 hours. I was mistaken about the two movies that were playing that day. One was Moby Dick, but the other was A Day Of Fury. Sorry about that. The firefighter who died that night had a heart attack after fighting the fire for three hours. He was just 43 years old.
Glad I could help. I am may have misled you slightly, though. I believe that the bank building is not a replacement, but is all that remains of the original building when the entire second floor was removed.
No, I’m sorry, but I can’t recall the exact years the parties were held. I believe I went there in the early to mid 50’s. One other interesting fact concerning the Savings Bank building though. If you look at the picture above you will see the main entrance at the corner of the building. That door used to be a large window that held a Don Kent-WBZ Weather Station back in the early 60’s.
The Rockland Opera House was located on the second floor at the corner of Church and Union Streets. The entrance was in the rear of the building. I can remember attending Town Halloween parties in the opera house. It was demolished back in the 70’s or 80’s. The location is now the South Coastal Bank (formerly Rockland Savings Bank). I wish we had more history of this important building.
Just to confirm what some of you are talking about, the Strand did burn down in 1956. Sadly, one firefighter lost his life to a heart attack that night. Moby Dick was playing that day, along with, ironically, The Day The World Ended! We really missed that theater after it burned. It was a long walk along old North Union street (Before the Airbase took it) to the Cameo in South Weymouth. I still have the original newspaper report on the Strand fire. I will try to find it for all of you when time allows.
Hello again. I have finally found the newspaper article that describes the Rockland Strand fire. It was an $80,000 fire on a Monday night that started just after 10PM, and forced 40 patrons out of the building. Theater manager Bernard Watts thought the fire was caused by a defective heater. It was a General alarm fire fought by five departments, and was finally brought under control after 3 hours. I was mistaken about the two movies that were playing that day. One was Moby Dick, but the other was A Day Of Fury. Sorry about that. The firefighter who died that night had a heart attack after fighting the fire for three hours. He was just 43 years old.
Glad I could help. I am may have misled you slightly, though. I believe that the bank building is not a replacement, but is all that remains of the original building when the entire second floor was removed.
No, I’m sorry, but I can’t recall the exact years the parties were held. I believe I went there in the early to mid 50’s. One other interesting fact concerning the Savings Bank building though. If you look at the picture above you will see the main entrance at the corner of the building. That door used to be a large window that held a Don Kent-WBZ Weather Station back in the early 60’s.
The Rockland Opera House was located on the second floor at the corner of Church and Union Streets. The entrance was in the rear of the building. I can remember attending Town Halloween parties in the opera house. It was demolished back in the 70’s or 80’s. The location is now the South Coastal Bank (formerly Rockland Savings Bank). I wish we had more history of this important building.
Just to confirm what some of you are talking about, the Strand did burn down in 1956. Sadly, one firefighter lost his life to a heart attack that night. Moby Dick was playing that day, along with, ironically, The Day The World Ended! We really missed that theater after it burned. It was a long walk along old North Union street (Before the Airbase took it) to the Cameo in South Weymouth. I still have the original newspaper report on the Strand fire. I will try to find it for all of you when time allows.