4th Street Theatre
110 N. 4th Street,
Moberly,
MO
65270
110 N. 4th Street,
Moberly,
MO
65270
4 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Fourth Street Theatre (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: B & B Theatres, Fox Midwest Theatres
Architects: Ludwig Abt, Carl Boller
Firms: Boller Brothers
Functions: Cultural Center, Movies (Classic), Performing Arts
Previous Names: Fox 4th Street Theatre, Cinema
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
660.833.4408
Nearby Theaters
Built in 1913, the 4th Street Theatre opened on February 9, 1914 as a 1,000-seat vaudeville and movie house. The beautiful theatre was elaborately decorated with much gold leaf, rich in coloring and velour curtains. It had rich mahogany swinging doors, wainscoting of white marble, ornate terra cotta trimmings in beautiful colors. Alterations were carried out in March 1924 by architect Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers architectural firm, and the theatre reopened on April 25, 1924. Alterations included the enlargement of the balcony. Last operated by B & B Theatres, they had renamed it Cinema, and they closed the 4th Street Theatre in March 1997.
Most of the terra cotta is intact and is being restored. It had a free-standing ticket booth in the entrance way which will be restored. The stage, dressing rooms and orchestra pit are still there.
Contributed by
Carolee Hazlet, Michael Childers
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
pictures are Great.
The 4th St. was the better of the 2 theaters in Moberly when I lived and taught in Madison. But the State always had the better movies. This was during the late 70’s.
The outside is really lovely. I hope I hear about it when the renovation is complete so I can visit it! Good luck, folks!
I hope that the fight over political correctness will be lost in favor of historic truth—the old black only entrance is still intact, and ought to be preserved.
Extensive coverage of the theatre’s history and current restoration is featured in Marquee, the quarterly publication of the Theatre Historical Society. The organization’s website is historictheatres.org.
An update on the 4th St. Theatre. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is wonderful. The things left to do are the stage lighting and curtains, the carpet, seats and finishing restoring the terra cotta on the inside walls and laying the sidewalk and entry way stars plus several small things. We continue to fund raise so we can finish the restoration this year. We will then have a grand opening. Thank you for the comment from JAlex about the Marquee magazine. THS did a magnificent job on it and we are spreading it around so if anyone wants a copy do get in touch with me. My e-mail is I will give another update soon.
To download a digital edition of “Marquee” Vol. 46 No. 1 featuring the 4th Street follow this link:
http://www.historictheatres.org/product/2014-marquee-vol-46-1/
Latest Update: UPDATE ON 4TH STREET THEATRE JULY 2014 (UPDATE by Carolee Hazlet)
We now have an occupancy agreement from the city so we can have events in the 4th Street Theatre. We have met all the specification requirements so we can now hold events there even though we are not completely done with the restoration. We have had many requests to have an event there so having the agreement will help a lot.
Several groups have already held small events there by bringing in their own chairs, sound equipment and other things needed.
The DECA girls held a very successful talent show, the Annual State Teachers meeting was held there and Miss Railroad Days contest was held there as well as many tours have been to groups attending family or class reunions. We are always pleased to give tours to any individual or group that is interested so please contact us. Even though the restoration is not quite complete people are really enjoying the historic old theatre.
We continue to fund raise as we have some very costly items to get such as the carp stage curtains, Sound equipment and stage lighting, then there are quite a few smaller things like the brass hand rails, memo board for the refreshment stand. We now have the balcony seats but have to get the seats for the front of the auditorium yet. The side wall molding’s and the large ceiling chandeliers are being worked on now and we have to get those installed before we do the other aforementioned things as big equipment has to be take inside to install those.
One of our fundraisers was “The Follies” for Railroad Days”. It was a tribute to the Krazy Kats and was quite successful raising about $1,700. We are now in the process of planning a Classic Movie Party on Oct. 14 to raise money for the permanent movie screen and projector. The cost of this will be $10,000. We are planning on having classic movie nights after the restoration is completed.
We have been invited to “Sister” with the Morecambe Winter Garden Old Theatre in Britain. The Board of Directors have approved the partnership so this will be exciting to be able to promote the 4th Street Theatre abroad as well as in the US. We will work together which will give us many advantages in the theatre world.
More and more people are showing interest in the completion of the restoration and we are getting there. Hopefully the next update will be to announce the date of the Grand Opening
The 4th Street Theatre restoration is doing very well. The back and side stage curtains were installed this past week and the front curtains will be hung in another week or two. We have the seats for the balcony ready to set and are working on the main floor seats. We had a very successful classic movie party that brought in over $2,000 which will help pay for an electronic screen and rear view projector. We used the new ticket booth and it was a great hit. We plan on having more movie parties as people really enjoy them. The movie we showed this time using a borrowed projector we McLintock with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. There are several things that need to be finished such as the carpet, some cabinets, stage lights and other small finishing items but we are on the way to completing the restoration early spring. We are letting the theatre be used for small events and we give a lot of tours. All this brings lots of attention to the project. We continue to stay completely out of debt and continue working.
Once operated by Fox Midwest Theatres, and was once known as the Fox 4th Street Theatre.