Co-Op Plaza & Empress Theatre

The building now known as Co-op Plaza was once the Empress Theatre. Its construction in 1927 caused a furor because it was the town’s first structure to be built of reinforced concrete, and people believed that concrete would crumble in the cold Fairbanks win­ter. The theater could seat 670 people and opened to a packed house of 1,300 people on August 25, 1927. In 1961, the movie theater closed, and the building was remod­eled for use as the Co-op Drug Store; today, it houses a diner, coffee shop and unique gift stores.