Airdome Theatre

50sSNIPES on April 1, 2024 at 12:06 am

In January 1908, a deal was consummated led by 75-year-old Mr. George F. Olendorf to build Central Missouri’s second airdome on Main Street in site of a long-demolished church. The idea came shortly after the opening of Sedalia’s Airdome Theatre in May 1907, in which business people had planned on an airdome in the Missouri capital for months. Some of those who planned on the Airdome in Jefferson City are Fred Sessinghans and Stokes Griffin and his company, who would later begin construction of the Airdome on February 15, 1908. Longtime early local theater manager, William J. Edwards, replied to Olendorf that he’ll take over as the manager, but with both men connected with the enterprise, there is no question about the success thereof. Olendorf formed his own Amusement Company in Topeka, Kansas while Jefferson City’s Airdome was still under construction. His amusement company was known as the Olendorf-Bell-Ballard Amusement Company led by Olendorf himself as president, alongside 75-year-old W.W. Bell (of Pittsburg, Kansas) and 75-year-old L.F. Ballard, alongside their 1 to 5-year-old children. His business owns a circuit of airdomes in Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.

Jefferson City’s Airdome Theatre opened its doors on May 18, 1908. The Airdome had some success for its first few years, but when it reached its fourth season, personal business immediately fell and the management closed the Airdome after the 1912 season. Manager William J. Edwards later died from an illness on the morning of February 3, 1913 at his home in Jefferson City.