Apart from a mirror, nothing reflects 50 years of change like a drive through Belleville
I’m at a stage in life when a simple car drive along a main street becomes an unsolicited history lesson.
I can’t help myself. Look. There’s a grocery store where Fischer’s Restaurant used to be. Back in the day, that church was the Ritz Theater. That big church on the hill? It was Elder Cadillac.
There’s a paint company in the Old B Street Bar, and a walking park at the Clinton Hill Golf Course.
In the words of the late John Prine, “That’s the way that the world goes ‘round.”
Sometimes, a business relocates or closes. The building remains stripped, vacant. The emptiness serves as a reminder of yesterday. Of all the changes in town, that one spot stirs the memory pot.
For me, one of those spots is the old McDonald’s on the 4400 block of West Main Street in Belleville.
All you see there today is an empty, concrete, one-story building shaped like a shoebox. Long gone are the yellow arches, red sign and indoor playground. Everything “McDonald’s” has been gone a few years.
I drive by and remember it when it was the hangout for high school kids in the mid-1970s. We didn’t stray far from home. On weekend nights, we cruised West Main Street, back and forth, when $3 of gas could last a weekend in your parent’s car.
Some nights, we’d drive around the McDonald’s building. Peek through the windows to check out cute girls inside. Sometimes, we went inside briefly. Ordered fries and a small soda. Usually, we returned to our cars and cruised along West Main Street. Radio blaring KSHE-95. Not a care in the world. Be home by midnight.
Big hair; small minds.
Our only security threat was ourselves.
McDonald’s management got tired of our loitering in the restaurant and parking lot. They hired a security guard. Those poor guys. Every one of them was nicknamed “Barney Fife.” We asked about the authenticity of their uniform, badge, handcuffs and whether they ever used a gun.
Sixteen years old; we had it all figured out.
A quarter pounder with cheese was the bomb.
Have you tried that new Egg McMuffin for breakfast?
As a young dad, the McDonald’s indoor playground was a safe place to take the kids on a rainy, winter Saturday afternoon.
As a kid from East St. Louis in the 1960s, I knew I was in the middle of Belleville when I saw the golden arches on West Main. The middle of Belleville seemed far away to a kid from the Edgemont area of East St. Louis. Stiehl Drugs. Mallo’s Bakery. BZB Restaurant. A whole new world, five miles away.
McDonald’s on West Main was one of those landmark spots in town that I figured would last forever.
In hindsight, I’m a reason the old McDonald’s closed. For many decades, I drove by but never stopped. I’d drive by and remember the good, old days. Keep on driving. Stop at Arby’s. Maybe Steak ‘n Shake or Wendy’s. All gone too.
This is not an economic development story. Every community changes over 50 years. Maybe they’ll open another business at the old McDonald’s site on West Main. Or raze the building. Maybe build something new.
Next to a look in the mirror at myself, nothing reminds me of how much has changed in the past 50 years more than the site of the old McDonald’s on West Main.
To me, that site will always be McDonald’s. Next to Mister Donut. Across from Reeb’s Dairy. Where we acted hard and cool. Scoped cute girls. Teased Barney Fife. When time stood still. Until curfew, at least.
