Ruskin I & II
11300 Blue Ridge Boulevard,
Kansas City,
MO
64134
11300 Blue Ridge Boulevard,
Kansas City,
MO
64134
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Commonwealth Amusement Corp.
Firms: Milton Costlow & Associates
Functions: Retail
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The Ruskin I & II twin theater opened on Wednesday, October 4, 1967, in the Ruskin Heights Shopping Center. "Who’s Minding the Mint" (1967) and "Doctor Zhivago" (1965) were the premiere attractions, in an opening night gala sponsored by the South Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
The theater was designed by Milton Costlow and Associates of Kansas City, and it was a freestanding building that was adjacent to the Ruskin Heights Shopping Center, a strip shopping center on Blue Ridge Boulevard, near the Ruskin Heights neighborhood of southeast suburban Kansas City.
The Ruskin I & II was the first twin theater for the Commonwealth Amusements circuit, which was headquartered in Kansas City and which in 1967 had over a hundred theaters, mostly in Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. The theater lasted only for a relatively short time, closing April 2, 1974 with “Sleeper” and “Walking Tall”. After the theatre closed, the building’s longtime occupant was a thrift store for the Missouri Council for the Blind.
Contributed by
Christofer Meissner
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
The May 22, 1967, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that Commonwealth’s new Ruskin I and II would be located in an existing building which had formerly been a bowling alley. The two-screen house was to have 744 seats, divided 364 and 380. Construction was slated to begin June 1.
Thanks for that clarification, Joe. I checked the Boxoffice article you referenced, as well as the KC Star advertisement that I based my write-up on. The advertisement mentions Costlow Associates but does not indicate that the building was new construction. The Ruskin building is definitely freestanding from the shopping center. The building still exists and can be seen here (it’s the building in the upper left; the shopping center itself is to the right).
An early photo of the Ruskin Theatres is on this page of Boxoffice, January 15, 1968.
Closed by Commonwealth while the 46th annual Academy Awards was occuring, Tuesday, April 2, 1974, showing in one auditorium Woody Allen’s SLEEPER, and in the other, Joe Don Baker in WALKING TALL [Kansas City Star]
Grand opening ad posted.