Madrid Theatre
3810 Main Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64111
3810 Main Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64111
4 people
favorited this theater
The Madrid Theatre was designed in Spanish style inside and out. The interior featured ornate plaster and the ceiling featured many large ornate angel medallions. The exterior looked much as it does today, yellow brick with terra cotta details and stained glass.
The theatre was constructed in 1925 and opened to the public on May 29, 1926 seating approximately 1,500. The Madrid Theatre was built and owned by the McCormick Construction Company and leased/operated by George Trinastich.
In the 1930’s, Howard Hughes, billionaire owner of RKO Pictures, bought up many theatres across the US, including the Madrid Theatre and the Warwick Theatre, just over a block away. After a decade, the Madrid Theatre closed as a movie house in 1944.
The Madrid Theatre sat unused until the early-1950’s when sadly it was purchased and gutted. The floor was leveled and it became a warehouse.
Saving the building from the wrecking ball, in 1983 craftsman Victor Patti bought the Madrid Theatre with the intention of restoring it to its grandeur. In the meantime, Patti used the building as his wood shop. In the fall of 1995, a group of investors dedicated themselves to the restoration of the Madrid Theatre.
The Madrid Theatre was beautifully restored and again opened its doors in the summer of 2001. Though few original architectural and decorative elements remain, be sure to look at the ceiling for the beautiful angels.
Today, the Madrid Theatre is often used for concerts, wedding receptions and salsa dancing.
Contributed by
Clay Jarratt
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
1500 seats does seem excessive, but 700 is too few. I count 31 seats across the auditorium in most of the last eleven rows (the loge section), and there are probably three more seats in most of the 18 or 19 rows (it’s difficult to count the most distant rows, the picture being too small) beyond the loge section. So there are a bit over 900 seats visible on the orchestra floor, and the picture appears to have been taken from the lower part of another section of seating (perhaps stadium style) at the rear of the house. There could be perhaps another three hundred or so seats, unseen behind the camera’s position. The ceiling doesn’t look high enough for a true balcony to be back there, so it’s probably just a few rows of seats on risers. I doubt that the total could have been much over 1200 seats, though.
Yes, the Madrid does have an upper balcony, and it appears the original design did have additional seats along the sides.
Here are links to some photos taken after the renovation.
View link
View link
View link
View link
Here is the front facade and entrance:
View link
The lobby:
View link
The fountain in the lobby:
View link
Stairs to the upper lobby:
View link
Upper lobby:
View link
View link
Here is a photo from July 2006:
http://tinyurl.com/ugzj5
Theater for sale 2.2million
Its for sale because Karl Schimell, owner of Madrid Theatre can’t get a liquor license besides having a lack of parking.
He has also heard that lightrail will be coming down Main Street (in about another 8 years) which for any business is bad news unless your James B. Nutter.
Karl Schimell is very unhappy with the new catering ordinance since he can’t have his salsa every Friday night.
Whoever buys the theatre will have to deal with the neighborhood association.
Just think. The neighborhood told him it was a very, very bad idea to renovate the theatre. I guess they were right.
Here is a 2008 photo.
1984 photo of the Madrid Theatre.
View link
New webpage address is www.madridtheatre.com They have some photos – looks like some architectural details survived, still has a horseshoe balcony, and a proscenium arch (although devoid of ornamentation)
The June 5, 1926, issue of The Reel Journal said that the new Madrid Theatre in Kansas City had been designed by the architectural firm of DeFoe & Besecke (Victor DeFoe and Walter A. Besecke.)
Described in this 1926 trade article: Boxoffice