The spot where Mayor Gary Singh stood on Wednesday to celebrate Manteca’s success and the promising future ahead was an appropriate spot for an upbeat and engaging State of the City address.

It was the same spot where 89 years ago last month — on April 15, 1937— a full house of 900 pairs of eyes were glued to as the curtains were pulled back and a projector cast black and white images created in Hollywood onto a gigantic white screen.

It was the debut in depth of the Depression of a $110,000 gamble of the then elegant El Rey Theatre. It was dubbed by the Manteca Bulletin as the grand dame of downtown.

It became a major gathering place for the South County.

Admission was 35 cents, or 40 cents if you splurged on premium loge seating.

It was more than just a movie house where the likes of Dennis Weaver, while spending a year in Manteca with a family while attending Yosemite School, worked as a youth sweeping floors.

Once a week, as an example, Portuguese movies were shown luring members of the Portuguese community from as far away as Salida and Stockton.

A Catholic priest always came.

Many of the moviegoers would stay around for hours afterwards and talk with the priest in the lobby.

The reign of the grand dame came to an end on Aug. 6, 1975 when fire gutted the building following a screening of “The Towering Inferno.”

The burned out shell stood as a blight on downtown for more than 20 years. The inside was filled with pigeons, graffiti, and occasionally by —— what might be called generously — partying by young people.

At one point, the private sector advanced a plan to convert it into a two-story office building.

Before that could happen, two entrepreneurs came along and saw the potential for a 360-seat restaurant and brewery that would become Kelly Brothers.

But there was a slight hitch. They had a funding shortfall.

That is where the City of Manteca entered the picture.

City leaders saw Kelly Brothers as a game changer.

They used the city’s redevelopment agency to offer the brothers a $250,000 loan at 6 percent interest to bridge the gap.

It led to the December 1999 opening of Kelly Brothers.

Several weeks later on Dec. 31, 1999, more than a thousand people — large auxiliary tents were set up in the 100 block of South Grant Street to handle the overflow crowd — were singing along to Prince’s mega-hit “1999” as midnight approached.

It was dubbed “The Party of the Century” by the now defunct Manteca Visitors & Convention Bureau that organized the event.

Where Singh was standing Wednesday was also where the main bar for Kelly Brothers was located.

For years, Kelly Brothers was the focal point for downtown.

The last call for Kelly Brothers came in 2012.

The economic malaise of the Great Recession is what led to the restaurant-brewery’s demise.

But a number of years before, the $250,000 RDA loan was paid off with interest.

Several years ago, the grand dame rose once again from the proverbial ashes.

Another entrepreneur/investor not only saw potential but also that half the work to make his vision a reality was already in place in lieu of a burned out shell or, worse yet, a mundane office building

Today, the Veranda Event Center & Banquet Hall is now a major regional draw for downtown.

The city’s actions in 1997 can be credited with two things.

It made Kelly Brothers possible.

And, by extension, it made The Veranda possible.

Detractors of the council’s decision back in 1997 repeatedly decried the RDA loan as “corporate” welfare.

Now step out the front door of the Veranda and look to the northwest.

Escrow will close any day now on the city’s $1.2 million purchase of the IOOF Hall and adjoining parking lot.

The city intends to seek a private sector partner to turn the IOOF Hall and corner into a high profile community gathering spot, much in the same vein as Kelly Brothers and The Veranda.

The goal is to step away once whatever takes hold and end the city’s financial exposure. That said, the city has indicated if they need to do so, they will go it alone.

There are people that say what the city is doing is risky business.

It is true. Going into business is always risky business.

The city’s bottom line is they believe what happens to the IOOF Hall in terms of how it is renovated and what takes place inside given it is high profile is critical to downtown’s future.

The path the city is on is designed to make the happen.

Risky, yes.

But is it the city’s business?

Stay tuned.