St. Louis Park Theatre

St. Louis Park, MN

4835 Minnetonka Boulevard

, St. Louis Park, MN 55416 United States

(map)

Status:	Closed
Screens:	Single Screen
Style:	Art Moderne

Function:	Retail
Seats:	1200
Chain:	Unknown

Architect:	Perry E. Crosier
Firm:	Unknown

The St. Louis Park Theatre opened in 1939, in the Minneapolis suburb for which the theater was named. Costing over $100,000 to construct, and designed by Perry Crosier in elegant Art Moderne style resembling more a sleek, sophisticated downtown nightclub of the era than a neighborhood movie house. It was one of the first theaters in the Twin Cities suburbs to allow smoking.

During the late 50s, the theater was modernized, including the addition of 70mm projection equipment, only the second theater in the state to do so, after the Academy Theatre downtown. In 1963, Mann Theatres took over the theater, and two years later, the Park again was remodeled, this time for the addition of Cinerama, with "The Battle of the Bulge".

During the rest of the 60s and well into the 70s, the Park remained one of the main road-show format houses of the Twin Cities area. However, after a nearly 60-week run of "Star Wars", the theater closed in 1980. The auditorium was demolished, and the lobby space converted into retail space.

Contributed by Bryan

YOUR COMMENTS

Great old photo at this link:
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/details.cfm?imageid=140969&Page=1&Keywords=movie%20theater&SearchType=Basic

posted by TC on Mar 10, 2005 at 11:38am

That is a great photo TC. This theater is on my Cinerama listing and I just noticed that the address should be 4835 Minnetonka Blvd.

posted by Lost Memory on Mar 10, 2005 at 11:46am

The Film Daily Yearbook, 1941 gives a seating capacity of 1,000. In the F.D.Y.B. 1950 edition it gives 1,200 seats.

Just a query? The address at 4835 W. Lake St given in the header maps out to Minnetonka Blvd close to Ottawa Ave which is the same address given in the link posted above by TC. My F.D.Y. for 1950 gives the St. Louis Park Theatre a street address as 3825 Minnetonka Blvd. Where does W. Lake street come from?

posted by KenRoe on Mar 10, 2005 at 12:07pm

The address should be 4835 Minnetonka Blvd. Here is another website with a current photo and address. They list it as 4825-4835 Minnetonka Blvd. And it appears that this building can be leased.
http://www.suntide.com/lease_office_StLouisParkTheater.htm

posted by Lost Memory on Mar 10, 2005 at 12:13pm

Thanks lostmemory, looks like another typo in F.D.Y. Grrrrr!

I think Bryan got the W. Lake St address from the book 'Show Houses' Twin cities Style by Kirk J. Besse.

posted by KenRoe on Mar 10, 2005 at 12:33pm

When the theater was around, the address was 4835 West Lake Street. Of course, much has changed since it closed almost 30 years ago, so it's possible that's how things got mixed up.

posted by Jesse Hoheisel on Mar 12, 2005 at 12:14pm

The St. Louis Park was among the theatres included in the original limited-market launch of "Star Wars." The St. Louis Park's 5/25/77 opening-day gross, according to Daily Variety, was a house record $6,149.

posted by Michael Coate on Jun 19, 2005 at 5:30am

Nice current pictures of the theatre site:
http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/19918.html
Incorrect theatre address noted.

posted by northstar16 on Dec 20, 2006 at 7:15pm

Here is a photo being advertised on eBay:
http://tinyurl.com/2tp7ju

posted by ken mc on Jan 27, 2007 at 1:47pm

This might be the same photo that was on Ebay. The year given for photo is 1941.

posted by Lost Memory on Jul 18, 2008 at 9:46am

That photo dates from 1943. The feature playing was "The Constant Nymph" with Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine.

posted by William on Mar 20, 2009 at 10:36am

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