Heard on the news tonight that the Mt. Vernon High School choir(I hope that is the choir) sang here today for a Rotary Club luncheon. The owner(or at least the man in charge of restoration) said that things have been going ok and that people are starting to get interested in restoration. It was mentioned though that several thousand dollars was still needed to reopen the theater to the public.
The ruling came in today. It gives the city permission to demolish the theater. It is a real shame because the owner probably could have saved it, had he not spent so much time and money in court fighting the city.
Charles decribesion of the theater may be somewhat correct, since organ-ized says it was in a midieval Romanesque style. Many railroad stations built between 1885 and 1900 where built in the Romanesque style.
Organ-ized I don’t know what your problem is, but you sure seem to have a problem with Charles. You tell him he is entitled to his opinion but not to be judgmental. I don’t see how he can give his opinion without being judgemental, that is the point of an opinion.
A judge has ruled that if the owner does not have a plan and the funds for rebuilding and reopening the theater in a month, he will allow the city to tear it down.
That web page makes no mention of the “Fox Special” but it does refer to the organ as being commonly called a “Crawford Special”, even though Mr. Crawford had nothing to do with the design.
The organ model that is at the Fox has always been called the
“Crawford Special”, although Crawford himself may have had nothing to do with its design. If you had read the information you used from that web site, you would realize this. Also if you had ever read the book about the St. Louis Fox, it also calls the Fox’s Wurlitzer a “Crawford Special”. If you had done YOUR research you would have realized that this name comes from the fact that the first of the model was located at the Paramount Theater in New York where Crawford played, and the “Crawford Special” name was applied to the 4 other organs of that type.
There is a commitee of local citizens that are going to hold a meeting soon on plans for the Varsity. They have several plans in the works, but can’t do anything till they can make a deal with Kerasotes. Kerasotes does not traditionally let movies be shown in there old theaters, so there is no telling what the Varsity will be used for.
A local citizen is trying to fix this building, but the city government won’t stop harrassing him. They took him to court to demolish it, and he won. Now they are going to go in and inspect the theater soon. If it does not meet there idea of progress, then they will take him to court again.
The building has still not been declared finished, although there have already been several events held here. There are also several events planed for the next few weeks.
Rumor has it that the airport didn’t pay the daughter all they owed her. The old billboard, which had been empty since the drive-in closed, now has a reality company’s name on it.
Yeah it was a shame. They promised the city they would not close the Varsity, then announced the closure a week before it closed. Was the picture of the red brick exterior, or the colored tile exterior?
Perhaps the Boller Brothers where not the designers, just the supervising architects, and E.P. Rupert was the actual designer. Or perhaps it is the other way around.
The drive in is still here, dispite the fact that the airport announced demolishion about a year ago. They stripped the covering off the screen, but left its frame up. Also I believe that the concession stand and the ticket booth are still there.
I only found one site on the web that listed Boller Brothers theaters, and they had several theaters listed on there that where not built by the Boller Brothers.
Heard on the news tonight that the Mt. Vernon High School choir(I hope that is the choir) sang here today for a Rotary Club luncheon. The owner(or at least the man in charge of restoration) said that things have been going ok and that people are starting to get interested in restoration. It was mentioned though that several thousand dollars was still needed to reopen the theater to the public.
The ruling came in today. It gives the city permission to demolish the theater. It is a real shame because the owner probably could have saved it, had he not spent so much time and money in court fighting the city.
The screen is gone, so I assume the rest of it is too.
Charles decribesion of the theater may be somewhat correct, since organ-ized says it was in a midieval Romanesque style. Many railroad stations built between 1885 and 1900 where built in the Romanesque style.
Organ-ized I don’t know what your problem is, but you sure seem to have a problem with Charles. You tell him he is entitled to his opinion but not to be judgmental. I don’t see how he can give his opinion without being judgemental, that is the point of an opinion.
A judge has ruled that if the owner does not have a plan and the funds for rebuilding and reopening the theater in a month, he will allow the city to tear it down.
The organ at the Fox is known as the “Crawford Special” not the “Fox Special”.
That web page makes no mention of the “Fox Special” but it does refer to the organ as being commonly called a “Crawford Special”, even though Mr. Crawford had nothing to do with the design.
The organ model that is at the Fox has always been called the
“Crawford Special”, although Crawford himself may have had nothing to do with its design. If you had read the information you used from that web site, you would realize this. Also if you had ever read the book about the St. Louis Fox, it also calls the Fox’s Wurlitzer a “Crawford Special”. If you had done YOUR research you would have realized that this name comes from the fact that the first of the model was located at the Paramount Theater in New York where Crawford played, and the “Crawford Special” name was applied to the 4 other organs of that type.
There is a commitee of local citizens that are going to hold a meeting soon on plans for the Varsity. They have several plans in the works, but can’t do anything till they can make a deal with Kerasotes. Kerasotes does not traditionally let movies be shown in there old theaters, so there is no telling what the Varsity will be used for.
A local citizen is trying to fix this building, but the city government won’t stop harrassing him. They took him to court to demolish it, and he won. Now they are going to go in and inspect the theater soon. If it does not meet there idea of progress, then they will take him to court again.
The building has still not been declared finished, although there have already been several events held here. There are also several events planed for the next few weeks.
Rumor has it that the airport didn’t pay the daughter all they owed her. The old billboard, which had been empty since the drive-in closed, now has a reality company’s name on it.
No, I haven’t heard anything about this theater since I first saw it on the news.
This web site has some nice pics of the exterior. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=116487
thanks!
Yeah it was a shame. They promised the city they would not close the Varsity, then announced the closure a week before it closed. Was the picture of the red brick exterior, or the colored tile exterior?
Perhaps the Boller Brothers where not the designers, just the supervising architects, and E.P. Rupert was the actual designer. Or perhaps it is the other way around.
I believe I found the info in a book on East St. Louis, but can’t remember for sure. It was just a few weeks ago when I saw it.
I have heard nothing about it for about a year. The building is still there, but no one can make a decision over it.
The wurlitzer in the lobby was supposidly originally in the Majestic theater in East St. Louis.
The drive in is still here, dispite the fact that the airport announced demolishion about a year ago. They stripped the covering off the screen, but left its frame up. Also I believe that the concession stand and the ticket booth are still there.
I only found one site on the web that listed Boller Brothers theaters, and they had several theaters listed on there that where not built by the Boller Brothers.
I also agree that the name should be St. Louis Theater, not Powell Symphony Hall.
Perhaps the theater was built for Metropolitan theaters, it was on the Orpheum circuit, and was later owned by Skouras Brothers.