Manchester Theatre
4247 Manchester Avenue,
St. Louis,
MO
63110
4247 Manchester Avenue,
St. Louis,
MO
63110
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The Manchester theatre opened in 1922 as part of the St. Louis Amusement chain. It seated 792. Built in a small shopping area on Manchester Avenue just west of Vandeventer, this one of the better neighborhood houses. The entrance was on Manchester but the theatre itself was on the street just north. The two streets came to a point at Vandeventer.
When you entered the theatre you were in a lobby that had the concession stand and the walls were lined with poster cases of coming attractions both at the Manchester and what was showing and coming to the Maplewood Theatre. From there you went into another lobby behind the auditorium itself. There were thress aisles that led into the auditorium. The auditorium walls were covered with a damask material with scone lights about every ten feet. The Manchester had a small stage with curtains that were on a traverse that were opened at the beginning of each show.
When the area around the theatre started to decline, the theatre went to weekend only operations and continued with this program until 1967 when it closed. It was demolished in 1969.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
St. Louis Amusement and Arthur Theatres were one in the same. St. Louis Amusement took over the Franchon & Marco Thetares.
I am a little confused as the Manchester being opened by St. Louis Amusement Co. The St. Louis Post Dispatch Friday, April 13, 1945 lists the following theatres under the Franchon & Marco Theatres,
Avalon, Granada, Hi-Pointe, Lindell, Richmond, Rio, Tivoli, Union, Shenandoah, West End, Maplewood, Shady Oak, Aubert, Congress, Lafayette, Shaw, Capitol, Florissant, Victory, Gravois, Kingsland, Ivanhoe, Maffitt, Pageant, Manchester, Powhatan, Roxy, and Yale. Were the newspaper listing incorrect. They are listed under the Franchon & Marco Logo, For Great Entertainment Always…. On this date the Manchester was playing “The Unwritten Code” and “The Utah Kid”.
When the Manchester opened it, indeed, was part of St. Louis Amusement. A newspaper ad from 1945 does not reflect 1922.
Fanchon & Marco did not arrive in St. Louis until 1933.
Fanchon & Marco did not have control of St. Louis Amusement until 1948. Until that point, Fanchon & Marco operated St. Louis Amusement theatres under contract.
Please note: it is Fanchon, not Franchon.
JAlex you seem to have a great deal of knowlege on the St. Louis theatre scene, I have racked and racked on what the street name was that dead ended at Manchester Ave. just east of the theatre. There was a stop light there and there was a public school right around the corner, do you recall the street name? The other was the street that ran behind the Manchester theatre, do you recall the name of that street also? Thanks, Chuck
Did you know Tony DeCarlo that managed the Manchester Theatre for many years? He went from the Manchester to the Rio and then to the Granada.
Chuck, to solve the question you have just click “map” after the address. A helpful feature of the site—provided the address is correct! As to Mr. DeCarlo, no, I did not know him.
We will open our Outdoor Community Market at that location this Saturday June 5th 2004. www.forestparksoutheast.org/market
I have a orginal seat my neighbor reconized as being from the theater. She said it was her favorite place to go, and she remembers smooching in chair like the one I found. I am having it redone for display, maybe in the Mangrove which was just featured on Show Me St Louis.
I am looking for any information, history, pictures etc about the old theater.
We are planning to show a movie outside on the lot where the theater once stood durning national Night Out.
Manchester Theatre closed in April 1964.
The wrong location was locked in on the google street view. The theatre was on Manchester not Arco.
The photo is not of the Manchester Theatre. The Manchester was located in the middle of the block. The entrance was a single story building. The auditorium ran along the back street east and west.