Empress Theatre

The Missoulian reported all 550 seats were filled when the Empress Theatre, built for the Missoula Amusement Co., opened April 18, 1913, with the movie “The Civilian”.

A photograph and story appeared in Moving Picture World on July 5, 1913, noting the exterior was designed and built by Decorators Supply Company of Chicago.

Located in the Bluebird building, also known as the Higgins Block, later editions of Film Daily Year Book listed the theatre as ‘Bluebird’ until it was listed as closed in 1932.

The Bluebird Building and Empress Theatre were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 with these comments: “The storage space on the east end of the second floor houses the remainder of the 1913 movie theatre proscenium, ornamental tin ceiling, original wallcovering and wood floor divided into levels for balcony seating no longer in place. The original theatre footlights and floodlights have been salvaged and some have been converted into lighting for the office".

“A postcard photograph of the first floor after its conversion to a silent movie theatre in 1913 shows that the façade had a highly ornamented pressed tin front, gilded plasterwork within the entry recess which extended the full width of the first floor, and two double door entries on either side of a projecting ticket booth. Many of the decorative façade elements as well as the stage and theatre seating were removed in the 1932 conversion to a shoe store; the second interior stair to the balcony was also removed at this time".

In 1921 the theatre was shown on Sanborn Maps and today Doc’s Sandwich Shop shares the same address.

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