Mainstreet Theatre
1400 Main Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64105
1400 Main Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64105
12 people
favorited this theater
The 3,000-plus seat Mainstreet Theatre opened in October 1921, the only theater in Kansas City designed by the Chicago firm of Rapp & Rapp. Its interior design was French Baroque style and the exterior a blend of Neo-Classical and French Empire styles. The lobby area is topped by a dome encircled by circular windows.
It was the first theater in Kansas City to contain a nursery for parents attending shows. The Mainstreet Theatre also featured an underground tunnel which connected it to the nearby President Hotel. Also, its basement and sub-basement contained space for animals used in the elaborate vaudeville shows put on at the theater, including cages for animals as large as elephants (and elevators big enough to carry them up to the stage) and pools for seals.
From the time the Mainstreet Theatre opened until 1938, it was part of the so-called “Junior Orpheum” circuit, and among the famous names to play its stage were Charlie Chaplin and Cab Calloway.
The Mainstreet Theatre closed for the first time in 1938, briefly reopened in 1941, and remained closed until 1949, when it was reopened by the RKO circuit, as a movie palace, called the RKO Missouri Theatre. In 1960, it was renamed the Empire Theatre, and was for several years a Cinerama house. The Empire Theatre closed once again in 1985, and has remained shuttered since.
Though plans to turn it into a Planet Hollywood-style entertainment venue and eatery were floated some time ago, it never came to fruition. Its owner at that time was seeking to demolish the historic (though not landmarked) structure, though local preservationists were seeking to save the former Empire Theatre. Even the city’s mayor had expressed hope of at least salvaging the facade, if not the entire theater, for some sort of reuse. The Empire Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in February 2006.
In September 2008, work was underway to convert the theatre into a six-screen movie theatre using the latest digital technology. The two largest theatres have 300 seats each, and the smaller theatres will have 50 to 100 seats. It reopened in April 2009, the theatre has reverted back to its original name Mainstreet Theatre.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 105 comments)
Here are some additional photos:
Postcard View
Circa 1932 Photo
1989 Photo
The other night after the show one of the theater workers took me upstairs and showed me the original auditorium. I found it fascinating to see what they’ve done with it. The French Rennaisance plaster-work is all gone, both on the walls and the ceiling. But, the integrity of the original interior walls, balcony seating area, and floor plan is all intact. The existing six screen-rooms and lobby areas are all built as a sort of inner shell within the auditorium. From the top balcony you can see all of these little structures built between it and the stage. This theater could easily be turned back into a very large house.
I think the philosophy behind the Main Street Theater renovation is fascinating. On the surface it looks as though the whole place has simply been gutted and replaced, with so historical/architectural continuity. In other words it is definitely no longer a French Rennaisance theater. But if a person studies the original photographs and architecture carefully, and then takes a closer look at the current theater, it is actually very much in the spirit of the original place. Grand stairways, spacious two-story lobby spaces with soaring ceilings. This is a very good modern adaptation of the same basic principles that Rapp and Rapp were using when they built it.
Here is a 1962 newspaper ad:
http://tinyurl.com/yfczpws
2009 Mainstreet Theatre Photos. On the Marquess Mainstreet is all one work. The header above has it listed as two words.
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I remember my last downtown movie was at the Empire and was Exodus. Glad to see the new Mainstreet is up and running. Hope to have an evening at the new entertainment district with dinner and a movie like we had back in the 1950s and 60s.
I love the new AMC Mainstreet – wish they would consider building on to it and add maybe another 6 screening rooms with about 150 seats each. The more people the relocate and move back downtown, the more business that the Mainstreet will get. I love the Power & Light District and hope for its success. Once we can secure a major league team at Sprint Center all will come together. Now hoping for the new 1000 room convention hotel to be built a block away from the Mainstreet Theater. I think that downtown KC is really looking up even if the economy is very bad right now.
From 2010, photos of the Mainstreet Theatre in Kansas City MO. [Please click on thumbnails for larger view].
Reading about all the rooms that were under the theatre back in the 1920s and 30s for animals, and the tunnel to the President Hotel, makes me wonder what happened to them. Anybody know?
It’s true about there being pens for elephants in the basement and a seal pool. I don’t think the tunnel to the President Hotel remains. It has probably been sealed up on both sides, and the City might have removed it during regular infastructure rebuilding. I haven’t heard of anyone who has seen or been in it.