Union Station 10 Cine'
900 St. Louis Union Station,
St. Louis,
MO
63103
900 St. Louis Union Station,
St. Louis,
MO
63103
2 people
favorited this theater
The Union Station Cine' was opened in 1988, by Wehrenberg Theatres of St. Louis in the rear of the old Union Station, next to the Power House. The Union Station itself was completely renovated and turned into a shopping mall and entertainment center.
The theatre opened with a 70mm screen and two auditoriums with THX sound. The theatre itself was a 42,000 square foot free standing building.
The lobby areea featured an old fashioned ice cream parlor and a deli so that patrons could either eat before or after the show. There was a mural that was removed from above the old ticket counter in Union Station where passengers would buy their train tickets. The mural depicted line men working on the rails and different types of trains. The mural was restored and put on the wall above the concession stand in the new theatre.
The Union Station Cine' was successful as far as patronage was concerned but the high priced lease hindered the profit. When Wehrenberg went into bankruptcy they tried unsuccessfully to renegotiate the lease but to now avail. They closed the theatre and a short time later Wallace Theatres picked up the lease and operated the theatre until late in 2003. It has been closed ever since.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
The above description is some what close to what happened at this theater. Actually Wehrenber Theatres operated the theater from 1989 and closed it in 1998, before the Wehrenberg chain filed for Chapter 11 in January 2001. Wallace Theatres spent $1 million in renovating the Union Station Cine’ which when Wallace had the Union Station dropped to stupid cine and said simple cinemas. Wallace took over in 1998. Wallace had a 10 year lease at UNION STATION CINEMAS. However was announced they wanted to close the UNION STATION CINEMA in November 2000.
Read the story for Wallace wants to open Union Station here:
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AND
Wallace in talks to close curtain at Union Station here:
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This article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mentions this theater; prospects for either re-opening or re-use do not look good:
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The theatre opened on July 15th, 1988.
Is the building still standing?
Yes, the building is still standing. Unused for about five years now.
I was at Union Station last month. A good third, maybe half of the place was vacant.
If I recall correctly, Wehrenberg Theaters publicly announced they would never again operate a theater in the St. Louis city limits after closing the Union Station.
Looks like the building has been foreclosed on and is going to auction in the coming week:
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In a story about the auction address given as: 401 S. 18th Street.
After reading the articles posted by CinemaJunkie, sounds to me like Wallace was forced out of the Union Station 10, rather than just deciding to cancel their lease. Do I have that right?…actually, not surprised this theater didn’t make it…