Vista Theatre
2617 Independence Avenue,
Kansas City,
MO
64124
2617 Independence Avenue,
Kansas City,
MO
64124
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The Vista was announced in February of 1925 at the vacant lot at 2611-2619 Independence last used for a summer carnival. The new Vista opened August 14, 1925 with “The Boomerang” supported by a comedy short and live music of the Sweeney Radio Orchestra. The Spanish architectural plan was drawn by Victor J. DeFoe.
Given the opening date and the March, 1925 appearance of the announcement of the project, cited in my previous comment, I think we can safely assume that Victor J. DeFoe was indeed the architect of the El Rey.
As the item in The Reel Journal mentions only De Foe, I don’t know if Walter A. Besecke was involved in this project or not. The firm of DeFoe & Besecke was formed in 1925, and a biographical sketch of DeFoe says that the pair designed several theaters from 1925 to 1928, the years the partnership lasted, so it does seem likely. The El Rey did bear a strong resemblance to the firm’s Madrid Theatre, opened in 1926.
This opened on August 14th, 1925. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
KCB3Player’s recollection is correct, the Vista was indeed a “weekends only” theater in its final years. And the last ever newspaper listing for it was on Sunday, September 19, 1965, showing an almost year-old Audie Murphy western, APACHE RIFLES, and a two-year old drama, Robert Stack and Joan Crawford in THE CARETAKERS. [Kansas City Star]
I remember when I was working for Fox Midwest in the mid to late 1950’s, the manager of the Vista and the Gladstone was Jess Spain.
Wish someone could post a pic of the Vista when it was operating as a theater.
The Theater did not close in 1958 – it remained open until sometime in 1963 and was just operating on the weekends like the National Theater also on Independence Ave about 4 miles East. As an 8th grader at St. Stephen’s School, I remember going there in 1963 for a special showing of The Ten Commandaments. I think the manager’s name of Frank Morrisey who would later move to the Paramount Theater downtown as the Asst. Manager.
The interior was almost identical to the Aladdin Theater and had a lot of beautiful paintings done by Dante Consentino, who also did a lot of the art work in many of the Catholic Churches.
This theater might have been a bit older, and a bit larger, than we thought, perhaps opening in 1925 as the El Ray (or El Rey) and seating over 1000. There was certainly the intention to build a theater on this site in 1925. Here is part of an item from the March 7, 1925, issue of The Reel Journal:
The photo of the Vista does show it to have about the 100-foot frontage of the proposed house in the article, and the style of the facade was certainly Spanish Colonial Revival. A city directory or newspaper article or ads from the period 1925-1932 could reveal if there was an El Ray or El Rey Theatre at this location.The Vista Theater building has been demolished.
An addition news link about the fire at the Vista Theater.
View link
The Vista Theater was destroyed by fire on May 12, 2011. Several businesses occupied the the 79-year-old building, and it appears to be a total loss. Firefighters have yet to discover the cause of the fire.
http://www.kmbc.com/news/27871002/detail.html
The source of the photos are Eric Bowers of http://www.valdorephoto.com . Please do not duplicate or sell. Photos can be purchased at Web site.
Here are some May 2007 photos of the former Vista Theater building. The building now houses the Hamar Fresh Market and El Vaquero Imports stores.
This theater building remains, and is used by a retail store.