The Dome, 3231 E. Michigan Ave., in its early days. The drive-in restaurant opened in 1939 and served ice cream, frosted malts and Domeburgers to generations of Jacksonians through 1984.The days lately have been sizzling and the nights oh so cool for cruising.
So if you were a teenager in the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s and perhaps even ’70s, you’re probably a little nostalgic for an east Jackson hangout that fit the bill both day and night.
The Dome, 3231 E. Michigan Ave., was the place to be for generations of youngsters who cruised “The Ave.” — Michigan Avenue — from The Dome to Bea’s Drive-In, 1419 N. West Ave., and back.
“It was kind of like the movie ‘American Graffiti’ with the fast cars cruising and their radios blaring,” said Jim Nelson, a former Dome employee and son of Elmer Nelson, who was there 38 years as a manager and eventual owner. “You’d go there to see and be seen.”
The building was saved by a group of people who didn’t want to see their beloved landmark demolished. It lives on as a concession stand at East Jackson High School, 1566 N. Sutton Road. But those who remember it well said The Dome will forever be linked with good times, good friends and souped-up cars.
The legend began in 1939 when the 21-foot-by-21-foot, egg-shaped, white ceramic-tiled building was bought by Albert and Edith Ann Glasscock, who moved to Jackson from Omaha, Neb.
The Dome stood virtually alone near the end of E. Michigan Avenue then, but its premium ice cream treats and beefy Domeburgers quickly made it a bustling spot for families and teenagers from late April to early September every year.
“I loved their frozen malts,” said Jackson’s Dick Decker, who started cruising to The Dome in his Ford Model T coupe in 1947. “They were just a chocolate malt, but they were frosted. They’d bring them out to you in a can with a glass to pour them into, and the can would freeze to your fingers.”
The malts were the kind you could eat with a spoon, but Decker and his friends had another use for the ones they got with theirs.
“We’d bend the handles so they’d hang on your car’s sun visor,” he said. “We liked to see who had the most spoons.”
Though small in stature, The Dome was huge in the 40 car spaces around it that were serviced by car hops such as Jackson’s Anita Fischer, who started in 1954 and worked there for 50 cents an hour during high school.
“It was always busy and an exciting place to be,” she said. “I remember how my legs ached after my first night. I loved it. We had a lot of fun, and the people were so nice.”
The Dome also had a car-side phone system, which allowed customers to call in their orders. Two employees worked the “switchboard” taking orders that were placed on spindles and filled by those in the kitchen before being delivered.
The Dome had a casual, festive and friendly atmosphere, but quality was key when it came to the food. Its ice cream was made on site, the whipped cream was whipped by hand by employees, and burgers were not put on the grill until someone ordered them.
“The ice cream was good,” Nelson said. “The butterfat content was very rich and very high, and that’s what made it so good.”
Nelson’s father, Elmer, was Glasscock’s brother-in-law. He started at The Dome as an employee and moved up to manager before buying the place and sticking with it until it closed in 1984.
The property on which The Dome stood was purchased by Good Will Company Inc., a holding company for Meijer Inc. By 1988, it looked like the little drive-in would meet the wrecking ball.
But East Jackson schools Superintendent Bruce Van Eyck stepped in with the idea to move The Dome to the high school and give it new life as a concession stand.
“It’s a piece of Americana,” Van Eyck told the Citizen Patriot at the time. “It would be sad to see it destroyed.”
The school board supported Van Eyck, and the new property owners said the schools could have the building for free if they could move it at their own expense.
“Bruce had the vision,” said Jackson’s Mary Todd, his secretary at the time. “Then a lot of people jumped on board and worked together to make it happen.”
The East Jackson Lions Club cleared away weeds and debris at The Dome’s new home site, and the 20-ton structure was moved in less than two hours on May 5, 1988, by Williams Moving Co. of Alma at a cost of $5,000, which was raised by the East Jackson Athletic Boosters and other community members.
“It was a bit of history we were able to keep,” said Todd, who cruised The Ave. between Bea’s and the Dome as a teenager. “Seeing it brings back your youth.”
Tidbits
The Dome, 3231 E. Michigan Ave., prided itself on its homemade ice cream, produced on site in a building to the rear of the property. Circling to the back was a driveway that allowed customers to grab cones and take-home cartons from their cars.
If you’re too young to remember The Dome, you can still try a version of its famous frozen malt at the Cascades Ice Cream Co., 1800 S. Brown St., near the playground at Cascades Falls Park.
The Dome’s car hops never served up food in roller-skates. The drive-in’s parking lot was cinder, not asphalt.
To raise funds to restore The Dome, the schools hosted the Old Dome Car Show for three years in the early 1990s. Upward of 150 cars and 400 spectators attended the event, which was organized by Dick Decker, a classic car lover who also cruised to The Dome as a teenager.
Decker also built a miniature version of The Dome on a small trailer and pulled it with a golf cart in area parades.
In 2000, a replica of The Dome built by Tucker Boyers and friends took best overall runner-up in Clark Lake’s Raft-O-Rama, which celebrated decades of the 20th century that year.
Carl “Elmer” Nelson, the longtime proprietor of The Dome died of cancer on Oct. 9, 2005. He was 88. He was a manager or owner of the business for 38 of its 45 years.
The Dome’s original owner, Albert Glasscock, also opened another favorite East Jackson eatery — The Chicken Inn, formerly at 3133 E. Michigan Ave. The building started out as a fruit stand but was remodeled during the winter months when The Dome was closed. It was managed by and eventually sold to Glasscock’s brother Gilbert, who made the chicken there famous among locals.
Like The Dome’s egg-shaped roof, the Chicken Inn also had a notable building fixture. It was a 110-pound fiberglass chicken that local youths would frequently steal as a prank. It ended up on top of East Jackson High School more than once.
If you would like to suggest a notable person, place or event from the past for this regular Saturday feature, please contact reporter Leanne Smith at 768-4924 or lsmith@citpat.com.