Fine Arts Theatre
2820 W. 53rd Street,
Fairway,
KS
66205
2820 W. 53rd Street,
Fairway,
KS
66205
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July 8th, 1966 grand opening ad ad Fine Arts in photo section
This opened on June 12th, 1942. June 8th ad in photo section.
I was an assistant mgr at the Fairway about 1958. It was a very comfortable theatre to work in, as well at to watch a movie in. I learned a lot about show business from my manger, Roy Hill. He was a good showman and was doing the group advertising in the K C Star. Those were great days at the Fairway.
Sorry to keep posting more, but I keep remembering more!
The Dickinson Theatre in Mission, KS was a few miles away from the Fairway and was one of THE original Dickinsons – the company that is now AMC. It’s in sad disrepair these days. It was a beautiful Art Deco place and the one place that, even in the 80s, one could find a Coke for a dime. The Fine Arts moved there when Wolferman’s took over in Fairway and was a repertory theater for some time, but it died.
Also, if you look up Houlihan’s Fairway, you’ll find the address. Shawnee Mission Parkway was not named that until the 90s.
I grew up in Roeland Park, which is adjacent to Fairway, KS. The Fairway Theatre was where we walked every Saturday in the late 60s to see the latest movie (I saw The Exorcist there in the 70s). I don’t remember exactly when it became the Fine Arts, but when it did, my brother worked there as an usher and ticket taker. The building did become a grocery (Wolferman’s) but is now Houlihan’s Restaurant. The street it’s on is W. 53rd, not SM Pkway. The entire vicinity of these little cities is collectively called “Shawnee Mission” as they all surround the old Shawnee Indian Mission (now a museum).
Presented here is a 1947 image of the Fairway Theatre. A cute little picture house.
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