Center Mayfield Theatre

Another day off was welcome. These mornings I am hobbling a bit. Thursday night in particular was difficult, my right Achilles tendon was singing with pain.

Received a message from the city yesterday that "the restoration of the remaining walks will follow very shortly after the rest of the new natural gas mainline has been installed." Glad to hear it. The word shortly reassuring defines the word after in that sentence, otherwise I would still question whether they work would be done before the snows which will inevitably begin falling in October.

Distance: 6 miles
Duration: 46:52
Avg Pace: 7:48
Route: Cain Park Loop.

Podrunner: Run Track Mind (166 BPM)

We cool. Still humid but I can run in daylight without totally overheating. Brisk run through my side of town. Beautiful, perfect day for the annual neighborhood block party.

Temperature: 64°
Climate: bright and sunny
Weight: 159 lbs.
Intake: banana
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes
Stretches: a little

Word is the former Center Mayfield Movie Theatre is due for demolition. I mean, it's been due for demolition for some time now. The last show I saw there was Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In an effort to remain profitable they had split the single screen into two theaters, side by side, but had not moved the seats so whichever theater you were in your seat was oriented towards to edge of the screen.

I sat sideways watching what was possibly the worst movie I have ever seen with a terrible pain in my abdomen which had that day been diagnosed as a hernia. This was almost twenty-one years ago, a little over a year after I had bought my house and right around when my (soon-to-be) ex-wife left. So, maybe it wasn't entirely Branagh's fault.

But the movie theater closed shortly thereafter. So it hasn't been the "Center Mayfield Theater" for twenty years, though the marquee remained as it transitioned into a Hollywood Video. You know what happened next, we stopped renting videos and so it became a state store ... run by someone who couldn't be bothered to change the decor. It looked like a Hollywood Video where you could buy liquor. It's just been vacant for some time now.

I am very familiar with this sidewalk.

I run past this place and around the corner often. Like, very often, it's part of my regular route. I ran past there this morning. I have seen barber shops and stylists and Chinese restaurants come and go. They are all gone now and I recently noticed that every single storefront is now vacant. All that is left is the child care center behind the theater, which must relocate.

I have no nostalgia for the movie theater, that was not part of my time. Frankenstein may have been the only thing I ever saw there. But I only hope the city can find a developer who can create something useful with it. I can't imagine there is demand for another dollar store in this town.