Mid Rivers Mall opened on October 14, 1987 by May Co’s May Centers, the parent company of legendary St. Louis retailer Famous-Barr who anchored there at launch. The project was about six years behind its original, targeted opening date. And General Cinema’s interest in opening a multiplex there dated back to 1982.
The 1,400 seat General Cinema Mid Rivers was announced as a neighbor to the Paddlewheel Express Food Court with two larger, 400-seat auditoria for the major releases. They finally launched in the mall on December 9, 1988. At that point, GCC had St. Louis-area multiplexes in Mid Rivers, the venerable Lindbergh and the Northwest Plazas, and the outlying Jamestown Mall, Chesterfield Mall, and Sunset Hills Plaza. St. Louis would turn out not to be GCC’s Gateway City. Less than a year after its launch in Mid Rivers, Wehrenberg Theatres bought out all 32 GCC screens effective November 1, 1989. This venue was renamed to the Wehrenberg-preferred label of “ciné” becoming the Mid Rivers 6 Ciné.
Th megaplex era took hold in the mid-1990s and dated mutliplexes all over the country were on the bubble. The chain decided to go big closing the Mid Rivers 6 Ciné March 21, 1999 and announcing a revamped 14-screen facility that would launch at year’s end on December 10, 1999 - as the Mid Rivers 14 Ciné.
In November of 2016, Marcus Corp. bought the Wehrenberg locations and it would eventually change the name of this venue to the Mid Rivers Cinema. A major post-COVID pandemic refresh included a bar and one of the Marcus' SuperScreen DLX large premium format auditoriums at its May 7, 2021 reboot after a three-month closure. Marcus' Mid Rivers Cinema was still operating in the 2020s.
The Baden Family Theater launched in 1913. In 1921, it was called the Baden Theatre. The Kaiman Brothers Circuit gave it an interior streamline refresh in 1937. It closed on April 25, 1965 with “So Dear to My Heart” and “The Quick Gun.” It became Towne Hall North, a party rental / banquet space.
Arthur Brothers Enterprises Circuit opened June 11, 1965 with “She.” But 12 years later, Arthur Circuit was in free fall and closed ten theaters late Summer of 1977 in financial reorganization. The Lewis & Clark was one such theater as property owner Civic Center Redevelopment Corp. said that $50,000 in unpaid rent was due on the Lewis & Clark and the Stadium I & II in downtown St. Louis. $200,000 in unpaid rent was found at other properties.
The Lewis & Clark divestiture took place when Civic found an immediate new operator in Mid-America Theatres. The new operator relaunched with a gala reopening on July 17, 1978 playing “Saturday Night Fever.” Mid-America decided not to extend past the 25-year leasing period closing with “Return of the Dragon” and “Game of Death” on August 30, 1980. From a mapping standpoint, the venue was at 9973 Lewis and Clark Blvd.
In 1980, Mid-America Theaters took on the Mann’s Mark Twain Theatre retaining that name. In July 1982, Wehrenberg took on the of Mann’s Mark Twin Cine still under that name until changing the name not long after to the Mark Twain Cine to be consistent with its other venues. It closed as the Mark Twain Cine on September 28, 1986 with “Nothing in Common.”
The Garrick Theater closed with a grindhouse policy playing adult double features from 10:30a to 1a. The final shows on Labor Day 1951 were “Close-Ups of 1951” and “She’s in the Army Now.” To celebrate its 50th anniversary it was bulldozed.
George Angelich’s Rainbow Theater was located in a new-build venue leased by the St. Louis Electric Company in the Central Business District of St. Louis in 1911. The parade of better movie palaces had passed the Rainbow by in the early 1920s. But the theater chugged along with lesser film titles.
Surprisingly, on November 28, 1930, it converted to sound making it one of the last downtown movie theaters to convert to talkies with the film, “White Cargo” as the New Rainbow Theatre. Playing exploitation and fight films, the Rainbow disappeared without a pot of gold in 1933. It was converted to two spaces one for a tavern / lunch room and one for a retail store. After just 25 years, the entire building was demolished again in 1937.
Harve T. Nokes' original Elite Theatre in Nixa, Missouri operated from 1923 until April 19, 1930. The theatre was packed when a nitrate film fire sent flames into the theater. Somehow everyone got out uninjured prior to the theater burning to the ground. The film playing that night appropriately enough was Reginald Denny in “One Hysterical Night.”
Nokes wrote a plea into the letters column of a leading trade publication asking for blueprints for a 300-seat sound film house. He must have received a response as he rebuilt the theater relaunching it as the “new” Elite Theatre on May 28, 1931 with Clive Brook in “East Lynne.” Nearby Ozark, Missouri folks drove to the Elite for sound films as they didn’t have a sound film theater until October of 1936. On January 28, 1938, the new operator of the Elite was Lynn Martin.
Regular features stopped at the Elite on December 4, 1939 with John Garfield in “Dust Be My Destiny.” The venue was used for sporadic live events from 1939 to 1941. In 1942, the seats and everything else of value from inside the Elite was sold off. The folks from Nixa now had to drive to Ozark, Missouri for films which they could do all the way until the 1970s.
The Grand-Arsenal Theatre opened in 1909 at this address… an address in some ads listed as, “You know where it is” because of its descriptive cross-street themed name. The venue closed for a major upgrade that took it from nickelodeon to full fledged theater relaunching as the Arsenal Theater on January 29, 1916 with “The Coward” with Frank Keenan.
The venue converted to sound to remain viable. The Arsenal closed permanently on June 10, 1932 with “The World and the Flesh” and “The Famous Ferguson Case.”
The original Wellston Theater was created in the former Empire Hall in 1908. It went into receivership in 1912. The second Wellston Theater was on the south side of Easton and was a project announced in 1921 at $80,000. Its first ad appeared September 13, 1921 with Eileen Percy in “Hicksville to Broadway.” It converted to sound to remain viable.
Wellston Theater #2 burned totally to the ground on April 4, 1944 in a spectacular blaze. There’s an image in photos of the fire. Despite or, in fact, because of the blaze, the theatre still had two attendees thereafter who found a pathway from the ruins of the Wellston tunneling underground to the safe of the neighboring Commerce Jewelry Store robbing it of $29,000 in jewels, bonds and cash. They were not caught.
Wellston Theater (#3) launched in the exact same spot on Easton and just across the street from the St. Louis County Bus Company terminal on November 7, 1945. Its opening ad is in photos with “Christmas in Connecticut” and “Escape in the Desert.” The Wellston closed permanently on October 25, 1962 with “13 West Street.” It most decidedly wasn’t packing in audiences on weekends or any day. Wellston #3 was demolished and replaced with a new-build 9•0•5 Liquor Store.
The last paragraph above could simply be eliminated as I’m not sure they were referencing the St. Louis' Wellston.
The Gaslight Cinema opened October 25, 1963 with Melina Mercouri in “The Gypsy and the Gentleman.” It was part of the Musical Arts Building and specialized in foreign films. It closed two years later on December 12, 1965 with “The Bridge.
The Armo Airdome launched on June 13, 1936 with “Follow the Fleet” and “Wanderer of the Wasteland.” Within two weeks, it was renamed the Armo Skydome - a name it kept thoughout the next 16 years closing for the season on September 2, 1952 with “An American in Paris” and “Invitation.” It was demolished and replaced by a Cook’s Department Store.
Opened April 4, 1925 with “Broke Barriers.” It closed at the end of lease in June of 1968 and got new operators reopening in August of 1968. On May 8, 1971, it played “The Aristocats” before closing. It reopened under new operators a year later on May 20, 1972 running through to Oct. 7, 1972 when it closed with a triple feature at 90 cents admission with “So Sad About Gloria,” “Encounter with the Unknown,” and “Scream and Scream Again.”
In 1976, the Maplewood Film Festival Theatre Company got permission to reopen the venue. They play repertory films beginning June 4, 1976 weekends only. In December of 1977, that closed. Richardson Theatres Co. reopened it as a discount dollar house on June 14, 1978 The Manchester closed for films on Feb. 15, 1979 gong “Up in Smoke” with Cheech and Chong. It had sporadic live events later in the year. It was listed in the real estate marketplace through 1986. In 1988, the Maplewood Theatre Apartments were offered for lease.
The Beverly turned art and repertory film in December of 1963 becoming the Beverly Art Theater launching with “An American in Paris.” Four years later, Mid-America Theaters rebranded this as the Fine Arts Theater on October 4, 1967 turning art house with “King of Hearts.” The venue also closed as the Fine Arts Theater almost 20 years later on May 31, 1986 with “April Fool’s Day.”
The Shady Oak Theater opened May 3, 1933 with “The Kid From Spain.” The Colonial Revival architectural sketch of Campbell Alden Scott, John A. Lorenz and Frederick Dunn is in photos. Just four years later, the venue made a momentous decision to go from neighborhood second run house to an arthouse rebranding as the Shady Oak Cinema on October 3, 1937. It would shorten that banner to the Shady Oak Cine closing on August 26, 2000 with “Autumn in New York.” It closed with 475 seats and was demolished in November of 2008.
The Shady Oak Theater opened May 3, 1933 with “The Kid From Spain.” But four years later, the venue made a momentous decision to go from neighborhood second run house to an arthouse rebranding as the Shady Oak Cinema on October 3, 1937. It would shorten that banner to the Shady Oak Cine closing on August 26, 2000 with “Autumn in New York.” It closed with 475 seats and was demolished in November of 2008.
The Ozark Theater launched on October 12, 1921 with Clara Kimball Young in “Charge It.” In 1925, the venue was known as the Ozark Theater and Airdome with the large outside area used for screenings that avoided the ventilation-challenged hardtop theater. On June 9, 1930, the venue added sound to remain viable. The Airdome closed after the 1945 season returning to its Ozark Theater nameplate.
You can please leave the credited Chuck Van Bibber entry as is. My research shows a bit more detail though the fate of the building is a bit of an educated guess. It’s as follows:
The 81-store Public Arcade Market opened at the southeast corner of West Pine Boulevard and Sarah Street in St. Louis' Central West End neighborhood on January 3, 1924. Architect George Wells' design was a cross between an open public market like Soulard and a more traditional shopping arcade. Unlike most public markets in the area, it also had upper floor office space. Within the year, The Arcade Airdome, billed as “Where the Stars Shine,” launched just beyond the Arcade on August 21, 1924 with “The Fighting Coward.” It advertised at 4051 West Pine Street putting it on line with the Public Arcade Market and likely pictured in photos.
The Public Arcade was going for a mix of retailers relying heavily on butchers, local produce and flower distributors, and boutique sellers along with offices for lawyers, architects, and dentists. A confectionery in the Arcade likely served as the de facto concessionaire for the Airdome. Arcade vendors undoubtedly signed short-term, year over year or seasonal leasing agreements. It was a newer, more mixed-use approach than the venerable Soulard Market about four miles away but it was likely done in by the higher-profile Union Market that would open November 5, 1925 about 3.5 miles away in St. Louis' central business district. And what the established and new public market spaces didn’t take away vendor-wise at the Market Arcade, the Depression appears to have taken an even more significant toll.
Despite the arcade’s inability to compete against other markets, the Arcade Airdome chugged along adding sound in its 1930 season to remain viable. Steve Major of the Grand Opera House was the final operator taking it on in the 1947 season and operating to 1950. The Arcade Airdome closed some 20 years later, shuttering on August 6, 1950 with “Feudin', Fussin', Fighting” and “Family Honeymoon.” The entire Arcade Market was later demolished likely in 1961 based on the movement of the center’s remaining vendors and aerial shots of the period.
The Plymouth Theater opened at the corner of Hamilton and Plymouth on April 25, 1914 with movies. The Plymouth added sound to remain viable. It closed on April 19, 1953 with “Invasion U.S.A.” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” It became a house of worship for the Calvary Temple the next year.
The Lexington opened on July 4, 1934 with “Ever Since Eve” and “Bottoms Up” supported by a cartoon. Its final showings were “Golden Stallion” and “Streets of San Francisco” on June 2, 1950. It was then listed as “Closed for the Summer” the next day. The next ad for the venue was in the for sale section where it sold for $41,000 first becoming a fraternal hall and then becoming a house of worship.
One of the spectacular failures in St. Louis move theater history was the Delmonte Theater which was part of the Delmonte Way project that included space for 29 diminutive boutique stores opposite the large, six-story 83-suite hotel complex housing its theater and a never-built but proposed, adjoining 4,000 seat airdome. Months prior to the Delmonte’s debut, the building owner and theater operator, Famous Players Lasky - Missouri Corporation, were in court over lease transferrals. It was an ominous beginning.
The theater moved toward its September 4, 1920 launch with “Humoresque” on the big screen which included an opening address by Mayor Kiel. A bizarre race involving 1,500 war-trained homing pigeons included the names of 1,500 children who hoped their bird would win the contest. Once in the theater, the Adam Style architecture of E. Price Porter featured an impossibly large and long, one-floor theater. It was going to be the crown jewel for Famous Players Lasky Missouri. The Delmonte was billed, as noted above, as “The Largest One-Floor Theatre in the World.“ The $600,000 project launched in 1920 and looked like a winner just based on seat count, alone.
FPL-Missouri had hoped to draw 7,000 patrons to a single film when the airdome launched. But three lawsuits later, including disappointing reviews due to very poor sight lines, stifling ventilation, ticket pricing woes, and a wide array of other issues mired the theater in its six plus years of dreary operation. And keep in mind that these failures were before the onset of the Great Depression. The $36,000 annual lease would be terminated as Famous Players and building owner, Frederick L. Cornwell, parted ways on poor terms. William Goldman took on the venue with a grand reopening on September 1, 1922 showing “Slim Shoulders.”
The biggest moment for the Delmonte was signing Famous Players Lasky star Rodolph Valentino to a six-day contract for a major personal appearance schedule at the Delmonte. But even that came with a dark cloud. Famous Players Lasky filed an injunction barring the six-day appearance and forced the operator to appear in an appellate court allowing Valentino to appear on stage to explain the imbroglio in December of 1922. Embarrassing. Then after the Delmonte prevailed, Mr. and Mrs. Valentino hit the six-day appearance on the stage in February of 1923. Larger crowds meant that more people could see the deficiencies of design at the venue. The theater was soon reduced in stature thereafter to a second-tier house with live vaudeville before reducing prices. In Fall of 1923, Goldman had nothing to say about the theater’s operation likely rejecting a second year of leasing liability.
Failing to get the airdome off the ground, the theater next had to address the massive issue with ventilation problems. The third owner was none other than Frederick L. Cornwell, himself - who had lowered seat count to 2,688, installed a cooling system in late July of 1924 trying to save the summer season. Like the previous operator, Cornwell was soon in court over the box office splits with Fox Films while dealing with small audience sizes. Cornwell had reportedly bought a year’s worth of films to get pricing down for patrons. That plan went south when patrons didn’t appear. Singer Eva Tanguay reported that she was guaranteed $2,000 for her appearance at the Delmonte. She received just $300 and the owner bolted the doors and didn’t reopen. So, bottom line, the Delmonte was in search of yet another operator. And Cornwell was in court with an antitrust allegation against Famous Players Lasky-Missouri as the gloves were off.
Fourth operator Samuel G. Hoffman came with optimism circa 1927 and had made the decision to reduce seat count to 1,588 in hopes of finding better sight lines. Hoffman held the last of several grand openings at the failed Delmonte launching January 21, 1927 with “Lone Wolf Returns.” Just two weeks later, the theater closed permanently with “Stepping Out” on February 6, 1927. Hoffman stepped out with a sizable loss just on the remodeling to say nothing of the broken lease. And, yes, Hoffman was the third straight operator to appear in court - this time suing the building owner about lack of heat. The lack of heat delivery was likely due to the failure of the hotel which was a massive misfire and likely had the operator a bit stingy on utilities. The Delmonte was a dud and there was no chance of thinking about wiring the cavernous theater auditorium space for sound films. The Delmar Hotel, meanwhile, had turned from a new facility targeting the upper crust and socialites to a low-cost daily… weekly… monthly… anything - second or third tier operation.
The theater space was retrofitted as “Club Diablo,” a mis-timed roarin' 20s, major night club and dance hall. And, yes, they marketed as the “Largest ground floor entertainment restaurant in St. Louis.” The theater’s pipe organ was left in place to help provide nightclub music. Seemingly, it was a mismatch but this - at least - reduced the potential cost of the organ’s removal. Club Diablo opened with high hopes on December 29, 1929. And you probably know what happened… They ended up in two courtrooms - criminal and civil. Unpaid employee wages, receipts being seized, and - finally - a major behind the scenes brawl between management and stiffed employees led to one employee being shot and the operator going on the lam. The venue was closed officially within one year’s operation.
Another operator tried again in the space relabeling it as “The Rendez-Vous” beginning on January 1, 1931 - middle class operation - and lasting long enough for a single rendez-vous. A month later, the entirety of the venue was stripped of all tables and someone must have said, “This would make a great skating rink.” You probably know how that ended. In court! During the skating rink’s short operational cycle, the foreclosure process took place in Circuit Court and the default dollars were fairly head-spinning for the times. The hotel had converted into low-cost furnished apartments, in part, due to the onset of the Depression; the Delmonte Hotel Apartments facility was said to be 75 percent vacant.
The entire Delmonte operation (not including Delmonte Way’s 29 boutique shops) was sold at foreclosure for just $75,000. An ad in February of 1932 offered all of the contents of the former hotel / apartment building as the buyer likely was trying to recoup anything from their investment. The former theater / roller rink space became home to Tom Burke’s Frolics Night Club, a lower class affair that opened on Halloween 1931 and closed desperately shy of patrons just three months later after New Year’s Day. And, yes, it had a criminal court appearance associated with its operation. So that’s the Delmonte Theater and its progeny - not a winning proposition.
Mid Rivers Mall opened on October 14, 1987 by May Co’s May Centers, the parent company of legendary St. Louis retailer Famous-Barr who anchored there at launch. The project was about six years behind its original, targeted opening date. And General Cinema’s interest in opening a multiplex there dated back to 1982.
The 1,400 seat General Cinema Mid Rivers was announced as a neighbor to the Paddlewheel Express Food Court with two larger, 400-seat auditoria for the major releases. They finally launched in the mall on December 9, 1988. At that point, GCC had St. Louis-area multiplexes in Mid Rivers, the venerable Lindbergh and the Northwest Plazas, and the outlying Jamestown Mall, Chesterfield Mall, and Sunset Hills Plaza. St. Louis would turn out not to be GCC’s Gateway City. Less than a year after its launch in Mid Rivers, Wehrenberg Theatres bought out all 32 GCC screens effective November 1, 1989. This venue was renamed to the Wehrenberg-preferred label of “ciné” becoming the Mid Rivers 6 Ciné.
Th megaplex era took hold in the mid-1990s and dated mutliplexes all over the country were on the bubble. The chain decided to go big closing the Mid Rivers 6 Ciné March 21, 1999 and announcing a revamped 14-screen facility that would launch at year’s end on December 10, 1999 - as the Mid Rivers 14 Ciné.
In November of 2016, Marcus Corp. bought the Wehrenberg locations and it would eventually change the name of this venue to the Mid Rivers Cinema. A major post-COVID pandemic refresh included a bar and one of the Marcus' SuperScreen DLX large premium format auditoriums at its May 7, 2021 reboot after a three-month closure. Marcus' Mid Rivers Cinema was still operating in the 2020s.
The Baden Family Theater launched in 1913. In 1921, it was called the Baden Theatre. The Kaiman Brothers Circuit gave it an interior streamline refresh in 1937. It closed on April 25, 1965 with “So Dear to My Heart” and “The Quick Gun.” It became Towne Hall North, a party rental / banquet space.
Arthur Brothers Enterprises Circuit opened June 11, 1965 with “She.” But 12 years later, Arthur Circuit was in free fall and closed ten theaters late Summer of 1977 in financial reorganization. The Lewis & Clark was one such theater as property owner Civic Center Redevelopment Corp. said that $50,000 in unpaid rent was due on the Lewis & Clark and the Stadium I & II in downtown St. Louis. $200,000 in unpaid rent was found at other properties.
The Lewis & Clark divestiture took place when Civic found an immediate new operator in Mid-America Theatres. The new operator relaunched with a gala reopening on July 17, 1978 playing “Saturday Night Fever.” Mid-America decided not to extend past the 25-year leasing period closing with “Return of the Dragon” and “Game of Death” on August 30, 1980. From a mapping standpoint, the venue was at 9973 Lewis and Clark Blvd.
In 1980, Mid-America Theaters took on the Mann’s Mark Twain Theatre retaining that name. In July 1982, Wehrenberg took on the of Mann’s Mark Twin Cine still under that name until changing the name not long after to the Mark Twain Cine to be consistent with its other venues. It closed as the Mark Twain Cine on September 28, 1986 with “Nothing in Common.”
The Cypress Village Twin closed permanently on January 29, 1987 with “Lady and the Tramp”. and “The Color of Money.”
Henry Wald’s son, Danny, ended the World on March 3, 1974 with “The Great Massage Parlor Bust.” Within two months, the venue was gone without a trace.
The Garrick Theater closed with a grindhouse policy playing adult double features from 10:30a to 1a. The final shows on Labor Day 1951 were “Close-Ups of 1951” and “She’s in the Army Now.” To celebrate its 50th anniversary it was bulldozed.
George Angelich’s Rainbow Theater was located in a new-build venue leased by the St. Louis Electric Company in the Central Business District of St. Louis in 1911. The parade of better movie palaces had passed the Rainbow by in the early 1920s. But the theater chugged along with lesser film titles.
Surprisingly, on November 28, 1930, it converted to sound making it one of the last downtown movie theaters to convert to talkies with the film, “White Cargo” as the New Rainbow Theatre. Playing exploitation and fight films, the Rainbow disappeared without a pot of gold in 1933. It was converted to two spaces one for a tavern / lunch room and one for a retail store. After just 25 years, the entire building was demolished again in 1937.
Harve T. Nokes' original Elite Theatre in Nixa, Missouri operated from 1923 until April 19, 1930. The theatre was packed when a nitrate film fire sent flames into the theater. Somehow everyone got out uninjured prior to the theater burning to the ground. The film playing that night appropriately enough was Reginald Denny in “One Hysterical Night.”
Nokes wrote a plea into the letters column of a leading trade publication asking for blueprints for a 300-seat sound film house. He must have received a response as he rebuilt the theater relaunching it as the “new” Elite Theatre on May 28, 1931 with Clive Brook in “East Lynne.” Nearby Ozark, Missouri folks drove to the Elite for sound films as they didn’t have a sound film theater until October of 1936. On January 28, 1938, the new operator of the Elite was Lynn Martin.
Regular features stopped at the Elite on December 4, 1939 with John Garfield in “Dust Be My Destiny.” The venue was used for sporadic live events from 1939 to 1941. In 1942, the seats and everything else of value from inside the Elite was sold off. The folks from Nixa now had to drive to Ozark, Missouri for films which they could do all the way until the 1970s.
The Grand-Arsenal Theatre opened in 1909 at this address… an address in some ads listed as, “You know where it is” because of its descriptive cross-street themed name. The venue closed for a major upgrade that took it from nickelodeon to full fledged theater relaunching as the Arsenal Theater on January 29, 1916 with “The Coward” with Frank Keenan.
The venue converted to sound to remain viable. The Arsenal closed permanently on June 10, 1932 with “The World and the Flesh” and “The Famous Ferguson Case.”
The original Wellston Theater was created in the former Empire Hall in 1908. It went into receivership in 1912. The second Wellston Theater was on the south side of Easton and was a project announced in 1921 at $80,000. Its first ad appeared September 13, 1921 with Eileen Percy in “Hicksville to Broadway.” It converted to sound to remain viable.
Wellston Theater #2 burned totally to the ground on April 4, 1944 in a spectacular blaze. There’s an image in photos of the fire. Despite or, in fact, because of the blaze, the theatre still had two attendees thereafter who found a pathway from the ruins of the Wellston tunneling underground to the safe of the neighboring Commerce Jewelry Store robbing it of $29,000 in jewels, bonds and cash. They were not caught.
Wellston Theater (#3) launched in the exact same spot on Easton and just across the street from the St. Louis County Bus Company terminal on November 7, 1945. Its opening ad is in photos with “Christmas in Connecticut” and “Escape in the Desert.” The Wellston closed permanently on October 25, 1962 with “13 West Street.” It most decidedly wasn’t packing in audiences on weekends or any day. Wellston #3 was demolished and replaced with a new-build 9•0•5 Liquor Store.
The last paragraph above could simply be eliminated as I’m not sure they were referencing the St. Louis' Wellston.
The Gaslight Cinema opened October 25, 1963 with Melina Mercouri in “The Gypsy and the Gentleman.” It was part of the Musical Arts Building and specialized in foreign films. It closed two years later on December 12, 1965 with “The Bridge.
The Armo Airdome launched on June 13, 1936 with “Follow the Fleet” and “Wanderer of the Wasteland.” Within two weeks, it was renamed the Armo Skydome - a name it kept thoughout the next 16 years closing for the season on September 2, 1952 with “An American in Paris” and “Invitation.” It was demolished and replaced by a Cook’s Department Store.
The Armo Airdome launched on June 13, 1936 with “Follow the Fleet” and “Wanderer of the Wasteland.”
Opened April 4, 1925 with “Broke Barriers.” It closed at the end of lease in June of 1968 and got new operators reopening in August of 1968. On May 8, 1971, it played “The Aristocats” before closing. It reopened under new operators a year later on May 20, 1972 running through to Oct. 7, 1972 when it closed with a triple feature at 90 cents admission with “So Sad About Gloria,” “Encounter with the Unknown,” and “Scream and Scream Again.”
In 1976, the Maplewood Film Festival Theatre Company got permission to reopen the venue. They play repertory films beginning June 4, 1976 weekends only. In December of 1977, that closed. Richardson Theatres Co. reopened it as a discount dollar house on June 14, 1978 The Manchester closed for films on Feb. 15, 1979 gong “Up in Smoke” with Cheech and Chong. It had sporadic live events later in the year. It was listed in the real estate marketplace through 1986. In 1988, the Maplewood Theatre Apartments were offered for lease.
Opened Oct. 23, 1935 with “Escapade” and “Murder Man.”
Closed in style with a Blaxploitation quadruple feature on November 26, 1980 with “Blackula,” “The Mack,” “J.D.’s Revenge” and “Youngblood.”
The Beverly turned art and repertory film in December of 1963 becoming the Beverly Art Theater launching with “An American in Paris.” Four years later, Mid-America Theaters rebranded this as the Fine Arts Theater on October 4, 1967 turning art house with “King of Hearts.” The venue also closed as the Fine Arts Theater almost 20 years later on May 31, 1986 with “April Fool’s Day.”
The Shady Oak Theater opened May 3, 1933 with “The Kid From Spain.” The Colonial Revival architectural sketch of Campbell Alden Scott, John A. Lorenz and Frederick Dunn is in photos. Just four years later, the venue made a momentous decision to go from neighborhood second run house to an arthouse rebranding as the Shady Oak Cinema on October 3, 1937. It would shorten that banner to the Shady Oak Cine closing on August 26, 2000 with “Autumn in New York.” It closed with 475 seats and was demolished in November of 2008.
The Shady Oak Theater opened May 3, 1933 with “The Kid From Spain.” But four years later, the venue made a momentous decision to go from neighborhood second run house to an arthouse rebranding as the Shady Oak Cinema on October 3, 1937. It would shorten that banner to the Shady Oak Cine closing on August 26, 2000 with “Autumn in New York.” It closed with 475 seats and was demolished in November of 2008.
The Ozark Theater launched on October 12, 1921 with Clara Kimball Young in “Charge It.” In 1925, the venue was known as the Ozark Theater and Airdome with the large outside area used for screenings that avoided the ventilation-challenged hardtop theater. On June 9, 1930, the venue added sound to remain viable. The Airdome closed after the 1945 season returning to its Ozark Theater nameplate.
You can please leave the credited Chuck Van Bibber entry as is. My research shows a bit more detail though the fate of the building is a bit of an educated guess. It’s as follows:
The 81-store Public Arcade Market opened at the southeast corner of West Pine Boulevard and Sarah Street in St. Louis' Central West End neighborhood on January 3, 1924. Architect George Wells' design was a cross between an open public market like Soulard and a more traditional shopping arcade. Unlike most public markets in the area, it also had upper floor office space. Within the year, The Arcade Airdome, billed as “Where the Stars Shine,” launched just beyond the Arcade on August 21, 1924 with “The Fighting Coward.” It advertised at 4051 West Pine Street putting it on line with the Public Arcade Market and likely pictured in photos.
The Public Arcade was going for a mix of retailers relying heavily on butchers, local produce and flower distributors, and boutique sellers along with offices for lawyers, architects, and dentists. A confectionery in the Arcade likely served as the de facto concessionaire for the Airdome. Arcade vendors undoubtedly signed short-term, year over year or seasonal leasing agreements. It was a newer, more mixed-use approach than the venerable Soulard Market about four miles away but it was likely done in by the higher-profile Union Market that would open November 5, 1925 about 3.5 miles away in St. Louis' central business district. And what the established and new public market spaces didn’t take away vendor-wise at the Market Arcade, the Depression appears to have taken an even more significant toll.
Despite the arcade’s inability to compete against other markets, the Arcade Airdome chugged along adding sound in its 1930 season to remain viable. Steve Major of the Grand Opera House was the final operator taking it on in the 1947 season and operating to 1950. The Arcade Airdome closed some 20 years later, shuttering on August 6, 1950 with “Feudin', Fussin', Fighting” and “Family Honeymoon.” The entire Arcade Market was later demolished likely in 1961 based on the movement of the center’s remaining vendors and aerial shots of the period.
The Plymouth Theater opened at the corner of Hamilton and Plymouth on April 25, 1914 with movies. The Plymouth added sound to remain viable. It closed on April 19, 1953 with “Invasion U.S.A.” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” It became a house of worship for the Calvary Temple the next year.
The Lexington opened on July 4, 1934 with “Ever Since Eve” and “Bottoms Up” supported by a cartoon. Its final showings were “Golden Stallion” and “Streets of San Francisco” on June 2, 1950. It was then listed as “Closed for the Summer” the next day. The next ad for the venue was in the for sale section where it sold for $41,000 first becoming a fraternal hall and then becoming a house of worship.
One of the spectacular failures in St. Louis move theater history was the Delmonte Theater which was part of the Delmonte Way project that included space for 29 diminutive boutique stores opposite the large, six-story 83-suite hotel complex housing its theater and a never-built but proposed, adjoining 4,000 seat airdome. Months prior to the Delmonte’s debut, the building owner and theater operator, Famous Players Lasky - Missouri Corporation, were in court over lease transferrals. It was an ominous beginning.
The theater moved toward its September 4, 1920 launch with “Humoresque” on the big screen which included an opening address by Mayor Kiel. A bizarre race involving 1,500 war-trained homing pigeons included the names of 1,500 children who hoped their bird would win the contest. Once in the theater, the Adam Style architecture of E. Price Porter featured an impossibly large and long, one-floor theater. It was going to be the crown jewel for Famous Players Lasky Missouri. The Delmonte was billed, as noted above, as “The Largest One-Floor Theatre in the World.“ The $600,000 project launched in 1920 and looked like a winner just based on seat count, alone.
FPL-Missouri had hoped to draw 7,000 patrons to a single film when the airdome launched. But three lawsuits later, including disappointing reviews due to very poor sight lines, stifling ventilation, ticket pricing woes, and a wide array of other issues mired the theater in its six plus years of dreary operation. And keep in mind that these failures were before the onset of the Great Depression. The $36,000 annual lease would be terminated as Famous Players and building owner, Frederick L. Cornwell, parted ways on poor terms. William Goldman took on the venue with a grand reopening on September 1, 1922 showing “Slim Shoulders.”
The biggest moment for the Delmonte was signing Famous Players Lasky star Rodolph Valentino to a six-day contract for a major personal appearance schedule at the Delmonte. But even that came with a dark cloud. Famous Players Lasky filed an injunction barring the six-day appearance and forced the operator to appear in an appellate court allowing Valentino to appear on stage to explain the imbroglio in December of 1922. Embarrassing. Then after the Delmonte prevailed, Mr. and Mrs. Valentino hit the six-day appearance on the stage in February of 1923. Larger crowds meant that more people could see the deficiencies of design at the venue. The theater was soon reduced in stature thereafter to a second-tier house with live vaudeville before reducing prices. In Fall of 1923, Goldman had nothing to say about the theater’s operation likely rejecting a second year of leasing liability.
Failing to get the airdome off the ground, the theater next had to address the massive issue with ventilation problems. The third owner was none other than Frederick L. Cornwell, himself - who had lowered seat count to 2,688, installed a cooling system in late July of 1924 trying to save the summer season. Like the previous operator, Cornwell was soon in court over the box office splits with Fox Films while dealing with small audience sizes. Cornwell had reportedly bought a year’s worth of films to get pricing down for patrons. That plan went south when patrons didn’t appear. Singer Eva Tanguay reported that she was guaranteed $2,000 for her appearance at the Delmonte. She received just $300 and the owner bolted the doors and didn’t reopen. So, bottom line, the Delmonte was in search of yet another operator. And Cornwell was in court with an antitrust allegation against Famous Players Lasky-Missouri as the gloves were off.
Fourth operator Samuel G. Hoffman came with optimism circa 1927 and had made the decision to reduce seat count to 1,588 in hopes of finding better sight lines. Hoffman held the last of several grand openings at the failed Delmonte launching January 21, 1927 with “Lone Wolf Returns.” Just two weeks later, the theater closed permanently with “Stepping Out” on February 6, 1927. Hoffman stepped out with a sizable loss just on the remodeling to say nothing of the broken lease. And, yes, Hoffman was the third straight operator to appear in court - this time suing the building owner about lack of heat. The lack of heat delivery was likely due to the failure of the hotel which was a massive misfire and likely had the operator a bit stingy on utilities. The Delmonte was a dud and there was no chance of thinking about wiring the cavernous theater auditorium space for sound films. The Delmar Hotel, meanwhile, had turned from a new facility targeting the upper crust and socialites to a low-cost daily… weekly… monthly… anything - second or third tier operation.
The theater space was retrofitted as “Club Diablo,” a mis-timed roarin' 20s, major night club and dance hall. And, yes, they marketed as the “Largest ground floor entertainment restaurant in St. Louis.” The theater’s pipe organ was left in place to help provide nightclub music. Seemingly, it was a mismatch but this - at least - reduced the potential cost of the organ’s removal. Club Diablo opened with high hopes on December 29, 1929. And you probably know what happened… They ended up in two courtrooms - criminal and civil. Unpaid employee wages, receipts being seized, and - finally - a major behind the scenes brawl between management and stiffed employees led to one employee being shot and the operator going on the lam. The venue was closed officially within one year’s operation.
Another operator tried again in the space relabeling it as “The Rendez-Vous” beginning on January 1, 1931 - middle class operation - and lasting long enough for a single rendez-vous. A month later, the entirety of the venue was stripped of all tables and someone must have said, “This would make a great skating rink.” You probably know how that ended. In court! During the skating rink’s short operational cycle, the foreclosure process took place in Circuit Court and the default dollars were fairly head-spinning for the times. The hotel had converted into low-cost furnished apartments, in part, due to the onset of the Depression; the Delmonte Hotel Apartments facility was said to be 75 percent vacant.
The entire Delmonte operation (not including Delmonte Way’s 29 boutique shops) was sold at foreclosure for just $75,000. An ad in February of 1932 offered all of the contents of the former hotel / apartment building as the buyer likely was trying to recoup anything from their investment. The former theater / roller rink space became home to Tom Burke’s Frolics Night Club, a lower class affair that opened on Halloween 1931 and closed desperately shy of patrons just three months later after New Year’s Day. And, yes, it had a criminal court appearance associated with its operation. So that’s the Delmonte Theater and its progeny - not a winning proposition.