Aubert Theatre
4949 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive,
St. Louis,
MO
63113
4949 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive,
St. Louis,
MO
63113
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Arthur Enterprises Inc.
Architects: Leo F. Abrams, Paul Klingensmith
Functions: Retail
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Nearby Theaters
Opened on February 8, 1923, the Aubert Theatre was designed by architect Paul Klingensmith. It was equipped with a Robert Morton 2 manual 6 ranks organ. It was the scene of a horrible yet mundane tragedy a decade later, when a stagehand cut his little finger while changing a sign and subsequently died of blood poisoning some ten days later.
Noted St. Louis architect Leo F. Abrams remodeled the theatre in March of 1946, after which it reopened with 1,000 new upholstered seats and air conditioning, falling under the St. Louis Amusement/Arthur Theatre banner. Just a few years later the Arthur chain sold the theatre to the National Food Stores chain. The last day of operation for the Aubert Theatre was March 6, 1953 screening Clark Gable in “Across the Wide Missouri” & Janet Leigh in “Fearless Fagan”.
A retail store now occupies the building.
Contributed by
Charles Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
The Aubert had the only Robert Morton Theatre Pipe rgan in St. Louis. Fate of the organ is unknown
JamesGrebe
This tribute to a former judge mentions that he was once the manager of the Aubert. See page 15.
http://tinyurl.com/56pdcw
I had some problems mapping this, as it kept putting me in DeSoto, MO. I’m not sure what the problem is.
The Aubert is/was in north St. Louis proper
James Grebe
As seen here:
http://tinyurl.com/nr9eh3
I found a photo from the theater’s opening – the article is from the Globe-Democrat and is dated February 4, 1923, indicating that the Aubert opened February 8, 1923. I’ll try to post the photo.
The original architect of the Aubert Theatre was Paul Klingensmith. The Aubert was on a list of theaters in a booklet published by the Federal Concrete Tile Company, which features a photo of it at the bottom of this page.
Even though ads in the Post-Dispatch ceased in January 1953, the theatre continued to operate running ads in the Globe-Democrat and the Argus. These ads last ran on March 6, 1953 with the apparent final bill being “Across the Wide Missouri” and “Fearless Fagan.”
Late in 1942 the property was purchased by Sam Komm. However, theatre continued to be operated by St. Louis Amusement as that firm held a long-term lease.
Building is still there.
The origins of this theater date back to 1911 when the Aubert Theatre and Aubert Garden were situated two doors away at 4937 Easton. On February 8, 1923, the “new” Aubert Theatre. The star of the show was the $25,000 Robert Morgan Symphonic Organ two manual six ranks organ. The theatre was equipped for sound to remain viable.
Conn Theatre Circuit reopened the theatre for African American audience in 1951. That seems to have failed on March 8, 1953 when the theatre closed with “Across the Wide Missouri” and “Fearless Fagan.” Conn Theatres sold the operation to National Food Center who remodeled the venue to the plans of Gerhardt Kramer Associates in 1954.