Ghosts Of St. Louis Movie Theaters Past
Then (image via Cinema Treasures). When built, the Melba Theatre had a park in front of it. For the latter, there is a fantastic source: This online catalog of movie theaters past and present has some incredible photos and snippets of information. Movie theaters in st louis park mn.org. The Stadium Cinema II was at 614 Chestnut and was once converted to Mike Shannon's restaurant: The Sun was at 3627 Grandel Square and was lovingly restored and in use by a public charter school Grand Center Arts Academy: The Thunderbird Drive-In was at 3501 Hamilton (I'm dying to find better photos of this one): The Towne (formerly Rivoli) was at 210 N. 6th Street and was a well known adult film spot: Union Station Ten Cine was at 900 Union Station on the south side of the property. The Lyric was demo'd for the current Busch Stadium parking garages.
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It was operational from 1924 through the 1990s when it was sold and demo'd for an Aldi's. It is slated for a renovation into a catering and events company called Wild Carrot per a nextSTL story from May, 2016. While looking into their backgrounds, I became fascinated with the history of the past theaters of St. of which are long gone. This one was operational from 1935-1999 and was popular in its later days for showing the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The movie would then continue in the cooler outdoors. The 1, 190-seat house on Grand Avenue had an airdome next to it. In December 1941, WWII began. Sadly some of these were the all-black theaters including Booker Washington, Douglass, Laclede, Casino, Marquette, etc. Maffitt: 2812 Vandeventer, 63107. Movie Theaters / Cinemas Near Me. Movie theaters in st louis park mn.com. The newly modernized Mikado added a permanent marquee projecting over the entrance. The Mikado was renamed the Victory theater in February, 1942.
Movie Theaters In St Louis Park
It was demo'd in January, 2012 and its demise is very well documented. Pair that with the intense wave of suburban flight that continues to suck people from St. Louis to the tune of nearly 550, 000 people lost since customers up and left and demanded newer multi-plex theaters surrounded by a sea of surface parking. When the theater was torn down, the office building remained.
Movie Theaters In St Louis Park Mn.Us
It is a strength of ours and the buildings themselves were built to be an extension of that artistic expression, a gift to the neighborhood or city in which they resided. You can take the academic approach and go straight to the library, reading through the documents, papers, maps and corroborated information that may or may not is the time consuming route, the route journalists and other people getting paid should take. Photos are surprisingly very hard to find. Here's a story and excerpt from NextSTL: "A proposal by artist Walter Gunn has been chosen by popular vote to seek funding. The Virginia was at 5117 Virginia and is still standing: The West End was at 4819 Delmar: Here's another one right before its demo in 1985: The Whiteway was at 1150 S. 6th Street: The World Playhouse was at 506 St. Charles was known for burlesque: Thanks to Charles Van Bibber for the time and effort you've shared with us for future consideration and pondering. Then by World War II it had become an adult movie house. After adding a long succession of neighborhood houses, Fred Wehrenberg acquired the Melba Theatre. Movie theaters in st louis park. The Bijou Casino was at 606 Washington Ave: The Capitol was at 101 N. 6th Street: The Cherokee was at 2714 Cherokee: The Cinderella was at 2735 Cherokee and is currently undergoing a renovation, yay! And the point of this post is to share a list and as many photos of the St. Louis theaters of the past that I could find. I was at a local tavern and started spieling about my new-found obsession with local theaters, and the conversation spread to the table behind me where sat someone who just happens to be an urban explorer with tenfold my experience.
Movie Theaters In St Louis Park Mn.Com
Some were massive losses to Mother Nature, Urban Renewal, or good old fashioned abandonment and neglect. St. Louis was built to be amazing and special and boomed when America its bust years were devastating as ~0. Anyhow, after spending a solid week of my spare time reading, riding around and looking for photos of the St. Louis theaters, I thought I should share my findings and a summary of the info I pulled from various sources. Here's a list of the 38 theaters with no photo images on Cinema Treasures: Dig a bit deeper and you can find some photos of some of these missing places. The address was 5951 Easton Avenue (today Dr. Martin Luther King Drive., St. Louis, MO 63133. There were over 150 theaters at one point in the heyday of St. Louis neighborhood theaters, so there was fierce competition as well. Fire regulations, wider seats, and aisles reduced seating capacity to 1103.
Movie Theatre St Louis Park
Will need to verify this. All photos were sourced from the Cinema Treasures website. And of course, thanks to Cinema Treasures for cataloging these important places. It started as Loew's playhouse and transitioned to vaudeville around the time of World War I, legend has it Al Jolson and Fanny Brice performed here. Busch II lasted for a mere 40 years but its wake of destruction was intense and we're left rking lots. Address: Park Place Blvd & W 16th St. St Louis Park, MN 55416. These signs are disappearing at a tragic rate. This vacuum hit the oldest parts of the city hardest. It was tough to keep up, many older theaters were reconfigured to skating rinks or bowling alleys.
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During warm evenings, shows would be stopped in the auditorium, and film reels carried to the airdome. The dark horse method, usually the most fun and personable, you can read from or listen to first hand accounts from people who were there or who devoted their time to research and share it with the public. Photo sourced from: "DJ Denim" on Flikr. For instance, I was interested in the King Bee (great name), Tower and Chippewa Theater at 3897 Broadway which supposedly became the home of an appliance store owned by locale pitchman-legend Steve Mizerany. We connected briefly via social media channels, but there was no interest to meet or do an interview. Such is the trend to this day in the suburbs. Here's the current site use: Now (image via Google Street View). New Merry Widow: 1739 Chouteau, 63107 (near Ameren). The good news is, there are 59 theaters with photos of the the buildings when they were operational or with enough there to verify it. This is not a St. Louis-only problem: the other three Midwestern cities I scanned (Kansas City, Memphis and Cincinnati) have lost most of their theaters too. At 411 North 7th Street was a Downtown treasure.
Saint Louis Park Movie Theatre
The Comet was at 4106 Finney (all black theater): The Empress was at 3616 Olive, it hosted many performances by Evelyn West, a beautiful dancer some called "the Hubba-Hubba Girl" or "the $50, 000 Treasure Chest" as she apparently insured her breasts to the tune of $50, 000 through Llyod's of London: The Gravois was at 2631 South Jefferson: The Hi-Way was at 2705 North Florissant: The Kings was at 818 N. Kingshighway: The Kingsland was at 6461 Gravois near the intersection with S. Kingshighway. Go check them out, many are already gone or on their way to the landfills and brick/scrap thieves. The Apache was at 411 N. 7th Street: The Apollo Art was at 323-329 DeBaliviere and was raided several times by the police because they were showing foreign and independent films: The Arco was at 4207-11 Manchester in Forest Park Southeast, now called the Grove: The Armo Skydome was at 3192 Morgan Ford, now a 7-11. A good example of this eventual demise is the Garrick Theater built in 1904 and eventually razed in 1954. It was razed in 1954. Some of this info is crowd-sourced, so it may be more on the subjective or anecdotal side and there are some cases of slightly inaccurate details. The Aubert was at 4949 MLK: The Avalon was at 4225 S. Kingshighway just south of Chippewa. I've shown the most grand losses, but there are many, many others worth noting.
Here's the entry from Cinema Treasures: The Melba Theatre was opened on November 29, 1917. Then came T. V. in the 1950s, burlesque/go-go dancers in the 1960s, XXX adult films in the 1970s and VHS/Beta in the the 90s most of the theaters were all gone (except the Hi-Pointe and Union Station Cine).. seems these buildings were under constant attack by technology and the changing times. The Shenandoah at 2300 South Grand and Shenandoah operated from 1912-1977: The Columbia was at 5257 Southwest on the Hill and it is rumored that Joe Garagiola worked there: photo source: Landmarks Association of St. Louis. It formed an arcade which led to the lobby of the theater. But for a central repository for vintage photos of the cinemas, you can't beat Cinema Treasures. Following are those others that we have lost entirely or are still there, waiting for someone with the means to save them. Show Place Icon Theatres Contact Information. Of those 132, 38 have no photos available so there is no current photographic evidence readily available online. How'd I find out about these places?
Mercantile Bank got the demo the fools in charge of the city let it happen. Previously, I discussed the four remaining, fully operational, St. Louis cinemas. All these buildings are gone and photos are not readily available online. History was not on the side of the movie houses. I've spent way too much time on this site dreaming, driving around getting current photos, trying to find where these once stood; but again, the point of this post is to mine through the photos and information and share the St. Louis-centric stuff for your consideration. It was most recently Salamah's Market and was purchased from the local community development corporation. You can read the full proposal text below. Lord knows I did, for almost a week straight. The building was completely redesigned in 1939 in a. modern art deco design.
The Original Japanese design seated 1608, including the balcony. I have connected with him and hope to revisit that conversation and follow up on this fun topic. There are other valuable resources out there for documenting St. Louis theaters, usually the ones that are being demolished, like Built St. Louis, Vanishing STL, Ecology of Absence, Pinterest and several Flikr accounts I stumbled upon. However, that should not stop you from exploring this amazing site.