Civic Theater
217 W. Daugherty Street,
Webb City,
MO
64870
217 W. Daugherty Street,
Webb City,
MO
64870
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Additional Info
Architects: Larry P. Larsen
Functions: Hotel
Previous Names: Blake Theatre
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The Blake Opera House had been closed and converted into an office building. A new 1,200-seat Blake Theatre was built opened on September 15, 1900.
It was remodeled in April 1927 and reopened as the 550-seat Civic Theater. The Civic Theater (not to be confused with the Civic Junior Theater, also on Main Street) was designed by Webb City architect Larry P. Larsen, who designed over 100 theatres around the U.S.A.
The Civic Theater was closed in December 1956. It briefly reopened in 1957 and closed on January 1, 1958. The front of the theatre was converted into an apartment, which became a bed & breakfast operation. The auditorium has been demolished.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
From what I found this theatre goes back to the 1920’s when it was known as the Blake Opera House.
Also known as the Blake theatre. Address is 217 West Daugherty Street.
Boxoffice, March 30, 1957: “WEBB CITY, MO. – The Civic Theatre, closed since last December, was reopened under new management Friday (22). Bill Bradfield of Carthage is the new owner … The Civic had been refurbished before its opening.”
Howard Larsen, who would later build the Webb City Drive-In, owned the Civic for a while. I wonder whether he was any relation to architect Larry Larsen.
Howard was included in Neosho MO Daily News story on March 28, 1947 as having attended the Kansas-Missouri Theatre Assocation of independent owners. On Feb. 11, 1950, the Joplin Globe quoted Howard to say the scandalous Bergman film “Stromboli” would not be shown at the Civic.
Howard Larsen was the son of Larry Larsen who was a scenic backdrop painter from Denmark originally. Here is the article about Larry: https://drypigment.net/2022/03/02/sosman-landis-shaping-the-landscape-of-american-theatre-employee-no-79-larry-larsen/
Closed on January 1, 1958.
Now houses a bed and breakfast.
The May 2, 1927 Moving Picture World ran this item about the Blake Theatre: “The Blake theatre, Webb City, Mo., has just completed a remodeling job which cost $20,000. The improvements included new upholstered seats, painting of the ceiling and replacing of the floors.”
More notes from the Webb City Register files:
While the Blake was closed for its October 1926 remodeling (not reported on by Moving Picture World until the following spring, as noted above), the Hammond brothers moved their show to the former Empress Theatre, calling it the Blake Junior for that period.
In December 1940, Civic manager Larry Larsen Jr. announced that the Civic and his other property, the Junior Theater (a.k.a. Civic Junior; 21 S. Main), would show the same movies at the same time to handle overflow crowds.