Washington Theatre and Airdome

The J.T. McCasland Opera House was built in downtown East St. Louis in 1890 and completed in 1891. It launched on a 20-year leasing agreement on September 21, 1891 with live music. The $100,000, 1,401-seat building was part of a coordinated effort upgrading East St. Louis' downtown with the nearby $500,000 National Hotel and Stock Yards along with its library and St. Mary’s Hospital.

The Opera House ran into difficulty and the final six years of the lease were taken on by Pedley & Burch. On January 22, 1905, the pair renamed the venue as the Washington Theatre continuing live shows. But movies were the thing by decade’s end and the Washington Theatre became a movie house. The operators also built the Washington Airdome to help get through the warm, summer months of operation.

The Washington Theatre and Airdome closed but its end will be a part of the city’s worst day. On July 2, 1917, a race riot broke out and witnesses said that African Americans sought shelter in the then empty theatre. The building was torched and nobody knows for sure how many people may have burned to death in the fire that destroyed the former opera house. A plaque commemorating the event entitled, “Sacred Site #7” can be found at 700 East Broadway where the opera house once stood.

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