Co-op Plaza on 2nd Avenue, between Cushman and Lacey St., was built in 1927 as the Empress Theatre,
a cultural gathering place. For many years it was believed concrete would crumble in the extreme
cold of a Fairbanks winter. But in 1927 'Cap' Lathrop constructed this concrete building and proved
everybody wrong.
The Empress Theatre later became Co-op Drug and then Co-op Plaza.