Mainstreet KC at the Power & Light District
1400 Main Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64105
1400 Main Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64105
14 people
favorited this theater
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The reason I’m posting all the photos and details of the restored theater, and surrounding entertainment district, is to inspire individuals in other cities as to what can happen with threatened theater buildings. It illustrates that it’s not always a hopeless situation, and that cities can find ways to save and find new uses for these historic buildings.
The lesson here is that it all starts with individuals speaking up and demanding these architecturally-significant structures be saved and reused in modern life. This can be done by doing research into the history of the buildings; involving the local media; and getting other people to contact city officials, building owners, developers, and even local chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The Internet, email, and web sites have made this all easier to do. Local historic societies and foundations are often vital participants in such efforts as well.
City leaders, developers, and your neighbors need to be shown that old theaters are important to not only our heritage, but that new uses can be found. People need to be shown examples of how these beautiful old buildings have been be used to bring new life back to downtown business districts, and other retail districts.
These structures are valuable assets to an entire community whether they be reused as film theaters, live performance venues, nightclubs, live broadcast studios, retail stores, book and music stores, art galleries, community centers, meeting halls, ballrooms, or even churches.
No longer is the only alternative to tear theaters down. There are examples that can be cited of what can be done. The most important lesson for me has been the effect and power of a few concerned individuals. It can make a huge difference.
If they don’t know, they don’t care. In many cases, city leaders and developers just have no idea what these old theaters mean to local residents. Often I think, developers immediately assume the best use of the property is to tear it down and start over. They just don’t have the imagination to think otherwise. One effective argument—to use with any developer or property owner—is to educate them about how local, state, and federal historic preservation funding, tax-increment financing, and urban development funds can be used to offset the expense of restoring these buildings. Often these funding sources combined can pay for up to 50 percent of the cost of restoration and reuse. In some cases, another potential tool is selling the naming rights to the reopened facility, or renaming the facility after a charitable benefactor or popular local figure.
There’s hope if individuals are willing to step forward.
I think is important is to be proactive. First of all, these old theaters cannot be allowed to continue to deteriorate while waiting for something to be done. Hundreds of these buildings are slowly rotting all over this country. Many times it’s a deliberate act by the property owner in hopes the local municipality will condemn the building because of safety and health issues. There are some property owners that allow the perfectly good theater buildings to fall into ruin to justify tearing them down. The common refrain is that “it’s prohibitively expensive or economially unfeasable to save the building because of its condition,” or “it’s unsafe, or too far gone.”
On some occasions, the city itself contributes to the problem by not enforcing local building code violations. City inspectors might cite the building owner, but nothing is done to enforce the action. Or, the fines are so small that it’s cheaper to pay the fines than repairing or stabilizing the structure to meet code.
To be fair though, there are also as many owners who don’t have the money to stabilize or maintain the property adequately, or just don’t know what to do with the structure. Some owners can’t even afford to tear the structure down, which might actually result in delaying demolition of some theaters.
Difficulties also arise when the property sits in economically depressed, or unsafe, areas. This makes it difficult or impossible for property owners to get financing to renovate the structure. In these cases, the property owner is hostage to condition of the adjacent neighborhood. Often the only solution is development of a wider community plan to stabilize and improve the entire area, which requires action of city leaders, developers, and other property owners.
People do purchase old theaters will good intentions, but things happen to prevent them from carrying out the plan. Market conditions and technology change, and a myriad of other obstacles arise.
Under some situations, a theater can really only be saved if city officials authorize and create an urban redevelopment zone around it, and assume possession of the theater through eminent domain, or property trades. This forces speculators and negligent property owners to turn over ownership of the property to another party to develop. Under this scenario, old theaters can be saved, renovated, and reused as part of a greater community development plan.
Some developers and city officials though are now understanding the marketing value and cache of historic properties that are restored or reused. They can be used as anchors, or trophy buildings, for greater redevelopment efforts in the neighborhoods around them. The architecture, unique history, or sense of place can be a vital selling device to encourage other parties to buy into a greater urban redevelopment plan.
Here is a live web cam view of the ongoing construction of the new entertainment district, named the Power & Light District, around the existing Mainstreet (Empire) Theater. The theater is the domed structure near the top of the image.
http://www.kcmo.org/cimo/webcam2.htm
The view will not be as good at night, obviously, and also will be affected by weather. It may take a few seconds for the screen to appear on slower computers, or those using dial-up service.
The district will be anchored by the nearby, refurbished Midland and the restored Mainstreet (Empire) theaters; the new downtown arena —called Sprint Center, and National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Museum; and the newly restored Hilton President Hotel.
Another new theater is also being constructed across the street from the existing Mainstreet (Empire) and Midland theaters that will be an additional performance venue for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre company. It is the building in the lower right center next to the parking garage. When viewing at night, it’s the building with the upturned floodlights on the sides of the structure.
I don’t know how long the web cam will be in operation, so at some point it will probably come down.
Here’s a bit of interesting theater history. The new KC Rep. performance space sits on the former site of the Globe Theater, which was demolished in 1932. According to an article in the Kansas City Star reporting the demolition, the Globe’s “greatest claim to histrionic distinction here [Kansas City] is that the talking movie. ..was introduced within the Globe walls.”
The theater introduced Vitaphone to Kansas City with the screening of “Don Juan,” starring John Barrymore, on June 11, 1927.
Here are links to renderings of how the theater will appear after the renovation is completed. The name will change back to the original name, the Mainstreet Theater.
View link
These renderings show how the theater will fit into the surrounding entertainment district that is being constructed around it.
View link
View link
Here’s some links to some old photos of the theater (circa the 1930s) when it was operating.
View link
http://cinerama.topcities.com/mainstreet.htm
I have a copy of a 1921 play bill from the Orpheum Theatre circuit. In 1921, they listed 46 in total theatres that belonged to the circuit. The program is available in the Special Collection at UMKC
Here’s an update on the renovations of the Empire and Midland theaters. The big news is that the Empire will be renamed the Mainstreet Theatre. This was the theater’s original name when it opened in 1921.
Asbestos removal on the Empire Theater has been completed, so renovation of that structure can now begin.
The following is a recent article in the Kansas City Star.
View link
(article text follows in case the link goes dead)
Empire to transform from eyesore to eye-catcher
The one-time vaudeville venue will be a modern movie house.
By KEVIN COLLISON
The Kansas City Star
July 15, 2006
For 20 years, the shuttered Empire Theater has rotted at the corner of 14th and Main streets, trees sprouting from its roof, a poignant symbol of downtown neglect.
On Friday, for the first time in a generation, Kansas City got a peek inside the former vaudeville palace where crowds once plopped 50 cents â€"a dime if you were a kidâ€"during the Roaring ’20s to be entertained by the likes of Charlie Chaplin, and George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen.
A sheet of the cheap metal siding installed to deter vandals had been peeled back to reveal the old address, 1402, etched on the red granite facade. Inside, the vast auditorium where a million people laughed in 1921, the first year it opened, was a dank tomb stripped to its concrete and brick foundation.
Only a few stretches of terrazzo floor and the once-grand staircase remained from the rich, original French Baroque interior. A guide likened it to exploring the wreckage of the Titanic.
It was not until recently that the building could even be entered without wearing a protective suit and using a respirator. Tons of asbestos and mold-covered debris had to be removed, an estimated 200 dump-truck loads, before it reached the point where new construction could begin.
“It was quite a mess,†said Guy Gingrich, senior project manager for Kingston Environmental Services. “We found the building on the inside had been completely falling apart and asbestos was everywhere.â€
Now, the theater is poised to be reborn as a six-screen, digital movie complex where patrons will be able to dine before enjoying their film with wine. It is also getting back its original name, the Mainstreet Theatre.
Kansas City-based AMC Entertainment and The Cordish Co. of Baltimore are reviving the theater’s role as a cornerstone of downtown entertainment. It is scheduled to reopen in early 2008, following a $25 million renovation.
“We’re going to celebrate the historic fabric and roots of the building …Taking it back to its historic roots, making it a place where people return to for entertainment, theater and culture,†said Reed Cordish, a vice president at the firm.
The 90,000-square-foot theater has had a bumpy history and some close calls with the wrecking ball. The Mainstreet shut down in 1938 because of the Depression, briefly resumed business in 1941, then closed again until it reopened as the RKO Missouri in 1949. In 1960, AMC purchased the old theater and rechristened it the Empire. The auditorium, a breathtakingly lofty space, had a false ceiling built to create two theaters in 1966. But as downtown declined, it finally closed in 1985.
The theater’s succeeding ownership neglected it to the point that trees took root in the roof, growing more than 25 feet tall, and water ruined the interior with mold and decay. Pigeons relieved themselves on the dome sheathed in terra cotta scallops. Chunks of the ornate cornice cracked and fell on the roof.
While a landmark in the hearts of many, it did not have formal historic designation and protection from City Hall.
Even after Cordish announced in 2003 it would like to save the theater as part of its Power & Light District, there was one last push to have it demolished.
Developer Larry Bridges wanted to team with DST Realty to build a new headquarters for Kansas City Power & Light on the site. The plan called for saving the facade, but razing the core building. But the city said no.
Then last summer, Cordish announced it had a new partner, AMC Entertainment. The two companies formed a partnership to not only renovate the Empire but redevelop the Midland Theatre, too.
“AMC has been a longtime Kansas City business and very supportive of downtown. Our downtown headquarters are here,†said Frank Rash, senior vice president for strategic development. “(AMC founder) Stan Durwood had a longtime vision for downtown, and this is a chance for us to be part of that.â€
In a way, the project already is under construction. Workers from Kingston Environmental began to remove tons of toxic debris from the interior last December and only finished in recent weeks.
Cordish has hired STK Architecture of San Jacinto, Calif., as executive architect. Helix Architecture & Design of Kansas City will assist with historic preservation design.
“Our philosophy is to restore as much as possible, celebrate it in our new design, and at the same time create the most state-of-the-art theater experience in the country,†Cordish said.
The plan calls for two larger auditoriums seating roughly 300 people in each, and four smaller screening rooms with 50 to 100 seats. The main entrance and ticket booth will be under the signature dome. Developers hope to remove floors to reveal the full three-level interior of the rotunda.
The restaurant will occupy the former lobby of the old theater. The idea is to create a place where people can watch movies and discuss them.
“We’re excited as a theater exhibitor to have a facility close to our offices where we can introduce and experiment with new technologies and new programming options,†Rash said.
All six auditoriums will use state-of-the-art digital projection equipment.
“It’s still a novelty, but it’s gaining a lot of momentum,†Rash said.
Developers expect to have the building’s exterior completed as soon as possible so it complements the expected opening of the rest of the Power & Light District next summer.
Cordish and AMC also are moving ahead with the Midland renovation, but that project is far less involved. The preliminary plan calls for a restaurant to go into the front office space, and the theater interior to be tweaked to create a more clublike atmosphere for live music.
“Our emphasis now is on the Mainstreet,†Rash said. “Then we’ll turn out attention to the development of the Midland property.â€
Mainstreet Theatre
Then …
•Opened: Oct 30, 1921 as a vaudeville palace with 3,000 seats, the largest in Kansas City until the Midland Theatre opened in 1927.
•Designers: George Leslie Rapp and Cornelius Rapp of Chicago, designers of more than 400 theaters nationwide.
•Cost: About $1.25 million.
…and now
•Open: Early 2008 as a state-of-the-art, six-screen movie house with a restaurant/wine bar.
•Developers: AMC Entertainment of Kansas City and The Cordish Co. of Baltimore.
•Designers: STK Architecture of San Jacinto, Calif., and Helix Architecture & Design of Kansas City.
•Cost: About $25 million.
From seeing the pictures posted on here by RobbKCity, from dec 31 2005, I thought it would be almost impossible to “restore” this theater, as opposed to gutting it and starting from scratch. Just way past the point of no return. I am happy that the building itself is at least going to be saved and used. Such a great facade. Also I’m not surprised that it’s interior used to look similar to Omaha’s Orpheum, since they were both designed by Rapp & Rapp, as pointed out by Mike Gallagher.
So much for restoration. That’s a shame. I didn’t think they would restore this theatre. Hopefully the exterior will be restored at least.
I just saw the interior of the Empire Theater earlier today and it has been completely gutted down to the bare concrete, steel and brick.
There is nothing left – however, I was told that some of the ornmentation was salvaged including some brass and bronze from steps and a lost of pictures. It is pretty much cleaned out and they are ready to begin exterior resoration while the interior is all redone to turn it into 6 very stylish screening rooms and some lounges and cafe’s etc. I am hopeful that care will be taken to design interior elements that would duplicate some of the original pieces. It is so sad what happened to the interior. There was once a lot of beauty in there. You can always drive up to Omaha and visit the Orpheum Theater since it’s interior is almost a clone of what the Empire once looked like. At this point, I am glad that building is being saved even though it will not be the same as it once was.
Mike Gallagher
The press release regarding the restoration of this theatre isn’t very specific. They plan to have six digital projection screens – does that mean the auditorium will be carved up? If not, where will the six screens be located? Can anyone shed some light on this?
I’ve seen a drawing of what this theatre is gonna look like when it reopens. It is located at View link and it appears that the original Main Street Marquee will be reproduced for the new (old) theatre.
This will require quite a few trips to Home Depot.
Here is a press release from last November:
View link
The cost of restoration and re-use of the theater has been budgeted at $18 million.
Those recent pictures are very sad but I think the theatre is restorable. All it takes is enough money.
Photos of the interior of the original Empire “Mainstreet” Theater can be found at:
http://cinerama.topcities.com/mainstreet.htm
The developer, Cordish Co., has committed publically to restoration of the theater.
oh no! it looks like they will have to gut most of the theater. It’s strange what 20 years of neglect can do…..
Recent photos of the deteriorated interior of the Empire are found at this web link:
View link
The Empire is currently under renovation and AMC will be reopening it soon as a multiplex. This was according to yesterdays KC Star.
When the Mainstreet / RKO Missouri was converted into the Empire I & II, AMC Theatres was then known as Durwood Theatres. From 1963 to 1969 this theatre was known as Durwood’s Empire I & II. After 1969 it was AMC Empire Twin, and in 1980 the AMC Empire 4. 6 years after the AMC Empire 4 closed, AMC opened the AMC Empire 25 Theatre in New York City.
Detail of dome: View link
Yet another link to old photo of the Empire from 1934. View link
The Kansas City Star today reported that AMC has joined together with Cordish Co to redevelop this theater as part of a larger entertainment district that has been on and off for a number of years. Current plans call for the Empire to be turned into a six-screen movie theater with digital projection to present foreign and independent film.
In addition, the Midland Theater, currently being used for live performance, is to be updated as part of the overall district plans. The office portion of the Midland is to be converted to high end condominiums.
Plans call for both theater renovations to be completed by spring of 2007
In the mid ‘60’s, I worked for Durwood Theaters as an assistant manager of the Empire. One of the ushers was a young man named Richard Rivas who was a very good artist. He gave me a charcoal sketch about 14x20 which I still have. If there is a place in Kansas City where this could be preserved as part of the theater heritage of downtown, I would consider donating it. By the way, does anyone know Richard Rivas or his whereabouts? It would be good to visit with him some forty years later.