Varsity Theater
6610 Delmar Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63130
6610 Delmar Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63130
7 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: R.A.M. Anderson, Bruce F. Barnes
Firms: Barnes & Anderson
Functions: Retail
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
Originally built as an auto-repair garage, it was converted into the Varsity Theater, which opened on December 5, 1935 with Jack Benny in “Broadway Melody of 1936”. It closed on January 3, 1988 with Tim Curry in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, which had played every weekend since 1978. It was remodeled into a short lived drug store. The building currently houses an excellent independent record store called Vintage Vinyl. It’s just blocks away from the lovely Tivoli Theater (also listed on Cinema Treasures). Both are in the the Delmar loop area of St. Louis.
Contributed by
Kevin Schneider
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
The Varsity opened on Dec. 5, 1935 and was originally operated by the Ansell Brothers, who also operated the Ritz and Empress Theatres.
The architect was Bruce F. Barnes.
The facility was a conversion of a l-story automobile repair garage.
I thought the Varsity had been torn down in the 1980’s, and that on its site a new building, originally a drugstore—like PharMor or something—had been built. The way I remember it, that store went out of business and Vintage Vinyl is operating in that building, not the old theatre.
The above photo link does not go to a picture of Vintage Vinyl OR to the Varsity.
PharMor simply remodeled the old Varsity Theater; they didn’t replace the building—though they might as well have. I worked at Vintage Vinyl for a while and always wished that the drugstore had never intervened; the record store would have had a much cooler vibe if it had been converted directly from movie-theater use. PharMor totally gutted the place.
The only thing missing from that beautiful picture are side shots of the marquee (where the titles of the films showing that week were placed).
A picture of the Varsity including the marquee can be found at View link
Are there any pictures of the Varsity’s interior lurking around?
Nice 70’s marquee shot. I’d kill to see an “Andy Warhol’s FRANKENSTEIN 3D” marquee shot!
Remember seeing Rocky Horror Picture Show on its initial release, with four other people in the audience, then another score of times at the midnight shows c. 1977-1978
Louis K. Ansell Interests incorporated as U-City Theatres Corporation in 1935 with the purpose of converting a terra cotta retail building at 6215-6217 into the U-City Theater to the plans of Bruce F. Barnes. That project foundered and they tried again here at 6608-6612 Delmar again with plans by Bruce F. Barnes and with a new name, The Varsity. The theater would be the company’s third along with the acquired Ritz and Empress.
The Varsity Theater launched here on a 15-year lease opening December 5, 1935 with “Broadway Melody of 1936.” Final operators Grace Viviano Piccione and Peter Piccione operated the venue from 1960 until January 3, 1988 closing appropriately with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a film that first played the Varsity in 1976 before playing every weekend from May 1978 to its 1988 closure. The space was almost immediately converted to a short-lived Medicare-Glaser Drug Store (picture in photos) followed by the Vintage Vinyl record store.