Construction began on this retail building at 623 and 625 Water Street in late 1963. The Rose Shop, a florist, moved from 304 Main Street into 623 Water Street, the space now occupied by Grape Juice, in February 1964. The Rose Shop was here some 40 years.
The other half the building, 625 Water Street, now called Gather by Grape Juice, housed a number of retail shops over the years. This building replacing an old house that had seen much service as the home of many small businesses. You can see the corner of that house in the photo below.
While at the time I write this most of the building is not quite 50 years old, a portion of it is. And that is really the story.
Between Grape Juice and the Herring Printing Co. is a parking lot which is the former site of the Rialto Theater, shown here. The outside wall of 623 Water Street that runs along the parking lot was originally part of the Rialto, erected in 1938. When the new building was erected, it was simply attached to the theater building instead of constructing a new wall. As a result, when the theater was taken down, this one wall survived. The former exterior portion of the wall of the theater now faces the interior of the restaurant and wine shop. Look carefully at the hollow tile wall of the theater. The next time you go to Grape Juice you will see the same blocks in the wall.
Today along the outside wall can be seen the outline of the stairs that went to the balcony--a reminder of the segregation era. During the unfortunate Jim Crow era of enforced segregation, the balcony was the only place in the theater blacks could sit to watch a movie.
The Rialto was demolished in 1974.
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