Esquire Theater

Going throuugh E. STL the other day, the building that housed the Esquire is no longer there, a new building housing retail shops is at this locaation.

The Esquire was right on the Corner State and 24th Street. It was a single story building but rather gothic in style. The building itself was rather wide and ran about a half block down along 24th St. It had a large marquee with large neon lettering spelling out Esquire on both sides, it also had flashing lights and a large number of flashing neon tubes around it. The box office was in the middle of the front entrance with doors to each side. The theatre declined along with the neighborhood and closed in the mid 60’s. There was a fire that gutted the interior but I am not sure if the same building houses the retail that is there now.

This is from another old news story that I came across:
“The closing of the Majestic Theater in 1960, left East St. Louis with only two operating movie theaters. They are the Esquire and the Colony”. So the Esquire was still open in 1960. Where is the Colony theater? It isn’t the Colony-Waverly Theater because that became the 40th St Theater before 1960. I think we are missing a Colony Theater. I wonder if it was that triplex that I posted a message about under one of these East St. Louis theaters that became a porn theater.

I read that Thomas Tobin was the manager of this theater in 1950 so it was still operating up to that year.