Building's face lift reveals original sign

The building located at 414 Central Avenue in Superior is being tuck pointed and painted. In the process, the paint is being taken off the front of the building with wire brushes. The work uncovered an early sign advertising Dahlgren’s.

The history of the building site is an interesting one.

The site was the location of the Air Dome Theatre. In 1901, the First National Bank and Dr. J. A. Marcott built the theatre. It consisted of an enclosed and roofed stage, backing onto Central Avenue. A high, solid fence enclosed the audience area and was open to the sky. Early motion pictures were shown under the open sky. Live entertainment was also presented.

The site was sold in 1913 to Albert Dahlgren. He razed the theatre and constructed a one-story brick garage with showroom. He ran an automobile business along with a Goodyear tire and repair business. He sold the building in 1920 to Joseph Haftner. The south part of the showroom was occupied by Towers Shoe Shop while Charles Campbell ran his Star automobile dealership in the north room. Galloway Tire and Battery occupied part of the building. The rear building housed a machine shop.

A fire destroyed much of the building. It was rebuilt.

Philip L’Heureux housed a Case implement dealership in the building in 1940. A feed dealership followed.

Subsequent uses of the building were as a feed and hardware store for the Farmers Union Co-op. It was used as a warehouse for a furniture store.

Keith and Eileen Eickmann utilized the building for their upholstery shop and soft water business.

At a later date, the south office -store portion of the building was remodeled and housed the Edward Jones Company office before it moved to other quarters.

The garage part of the building was remodeled and used by the Brodstone Hospital Auxiliary’s ‘Nifty Thrifty’ store. After the thrift store moved, it was home to The Emporium. Its current occupant is Buttons and Bows, a children’s clothing store. The office part housed the Community Action office and the Nuckolls County Food Pantry. It was later home to the ‘Dawg House.’ It is currently vacant.