Aztec Shawnee Theater
11119 Johnson Drive,
Shawnee,
KS
66203
11119 Johnson Drive,
Shawnee,
KS
66203
2 people
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Would love to go inside and look around. Drive by it everyday. When it opens, I would like to be the first to buy a season pass! Thanks for the post “emagnitude”!
The theatre is currently being renovated!
http://m.shawneedispatch.com/news/2017/jan/24/reviving-shawnees-silver-screen/?templates=mobile
Closed for good as a movie theater on Sunday, July 20, 1975, with three showings that day of Peter Bogdanovich’s WHAT’S UP, DOC. [Kansas City Star]
The September 4, 2012, edition of the Shawnee Dispatch ran this fairly long article about the delay in getting the Fine Arts Theatre open. There have been conflicts over the city’s building permit requirements, and the owner of the building said that he was ready to abandon the project and sell the building for the $240,000 he had invested in it. I haven’t found anything more recent about the project, so I guess we can assume that it is still stalled.
I’m told that this marquee came from the Plaza Theatre in Abilene, KS before it was destroyed. They sure look alike:
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My photo from July 2010 of the Fine Arts marquee:
http://agilitynut.com/10/9/finearts2.jpg
i’m really interested in buying this place and reopening it!… does anybody know the asking price?!
If the theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a architectural survey was done to verify the architect, engineering firm, and even construction company. If the listing information includes the Bollers as architect of record, then they designed it.
It was listed on http://members.aol.com/screenviews/theatres.html with the following info:
Name: Mission
Additional Names: Aztec (1940s)/Fine Arts (after current renovation)
Location: 11119 Johnson Dr., Shawnee, KS
Opened: 1927
Ownership: Dickinson (1940s)/Fine Arts Theatre Group
Current Status: Closed as movie house in 1975, then used for bank storage. Currently under renovation to replace the Fine Arts Theatre.
Other Info: Built by Marion Summerour, the third mayor of Shawnee. Designed by Boller Bros. architects.
Looking back I do not see it on a list I have of Boller theatres so I can’t guarantee where the owner of that site got their info. I would love to see this theatre open, it is just blocks from my home.
Clay- What listing had the Mission or Aztec designed or remodelled by the Bowler Bros ? We would certainly like to verify this as the owner of the theatre.
According to a March 10, 2005 Kansas City Star article this theatre is scheduled to open in late summer or early fall.
The article’s main subject was two other theatres owned by the fine arts group; Rio (Overland Park, KS) and Granada (Kansas City, KS) which were added to the National Register of Historic Places in February 2005.