Garrick Theatre
515 Chestnut Street,
St. Louis,
MO
63101
515 Chestnut Street,
St. Louis,
MO
63101
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The Garrick Theater closed with a grindhouse policy playing adult double features from 10:30a to 1a. The final shows on Labor Day 1951 were “Close-Ups of 1951” and “She’s in the Army Now.” To celebrate its 50th anniversary it was bulldozed.
December 25th, 1904 grand opening ad in photo section.
kschneiderstl: Liberty was an early aka for the house listed at Cinema Treasures as the Sun Theatre.
Re: Tinseltoes link. There is a theatre called Fox’s Liberty Theatre in that ad. There does not seem to be a listing on Cinema Treasures for Fox’s Liberty or Liberty theatre in St. Louis. Did it go by any other names? Cinematour lists a Liberty Theatre in St. Louis, but there is no photo, address or other info.
The 1908/1909 Cahn Directory gives a seating capacity totaling 1301. Specifically: 60 Box seats; 488 Orchestra seats; 382 Balcony seats; and 371 Gallery seats.
The Odeon on Grand was primarily a concert/recital hall which occasionally presented a film. When the Municipal Auditorium (the future Kiel) opened in 1934 and the Symphony moved its concerts there, a policy of movies and stage shows for Black audiences was attempted, but was unsuccessful. A fire in late 1935 led to the building’s condemnation and demolishment.
In 1899 the Garrick’s architect, William Albert Swasey, designed a building for the Masons at 1042 N. Grand Avenue, which included a theater that operated as the Odeon for over thirty years. I’ve been unable to discover if the Odeon ever operated as a movie house, though. Does anybody know? It would have to have been before 1936, the year the building was condemned and demolished following a major fire.
Here is a biographical sketch of W.A. Swasey from the Landmarks Association of St. Louis. It mentions the Garrick as well as the Odeon, but only briefly.
Loews ran it for just over two years strange.
Theatre opened December 26, 1904. (The World’s Fair, incidentally, had closed December 1.)
Thanks Brian, now I know how
JamesGrebe
Click the word ‘Here’. It is a link.
Where is the photo?
JamesGrebe
Here is a May 11, 1949 photo of the Garrick freom the Charles Cushman collection
Architect was W. Albert Swasey.
Loew’s operated as a first-run movie house from January 1919 to February 1921.