Byam Theatre
10223 Highway 24,
Independence,
MO
64053
10223 Highway 24,
Independence,
MO
64053
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The Fairmount Theatre was opened in 1924. It became the Byam Theatre on September 28, 1937.
It was closed in August 1956. The front of the building is now occupied with retail and the auditorium portion is still standing.
Contributed by
Chris1982
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The Byam Theatre’s auditorium was built in 1937 behind an existing commercial building at the southwest corner of Highway 24 and Ash Avenue in the Fairmount district of Independence. The theater was built by F. L. Byam, who owned a drug store on the corner, and the house was operated by Reube Finkelstein. It originally had 730 seats, according to an item in Boxoffice of January 8, 1938.
From 1999 to 2009, the auditorium (at 608 S. Ash Avenue- the theater’s entrance had been around the corner on Highway 24) housed the Fairmount Community Center, but has apparently been vacant since the center moved to new quarters. The Byam Theatre closed some years prior to 1961, by which time the marquee had been removed.
A comment by weimlover6 on this forum page says that the Byam Theatre actually went into operation around 1924 as the Fairmount Theatre. The same post notes that the Majestic Theatre was at 214 N. Main Street, so that wasn’t an aka for the Byam.
Joe, I added the Majestic Theatre since it wasn’t listed.