Arcade Airdome
4051 W. Pine Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63108
4051 W. Pine Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63108
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You can please leave the credited Chuck Van Bibber entry as is. My research shows a bit more detail though the fate of the building is a bit of an educated guess. It’s as follows:
The 81-store Public Arcade Market opened at the southeast corner of West Pine Boulevard and Sarah Street in St. Louis' Central West End neighborhood on January 3, 1924. Architect George Wells' design was a cross between an open public market like Soulard and a more traditional shopping arcade. Unlike most public markets in the area, it also had upper floor office space. Within the year, The Arcade Airdome, billed as “Where the Stars Shine,” launched just beyond the Arcade on August 21, 1924 with “The Fighting Coward.” It advertised at 4051 West Pine Street putting it on line with the Public Arcade Market and likely pictured in photos.
The Public Arcade was going for a mix of retailers relying heavily on butchers, local produce and flower distributors, and boutique sellers along with offices for lawyers, architects, and dentists. A confectionery in the Arcade likely served as the de facto concessionaire for the Airdome. Arcade vendors undoubtedly signed short-term, year over year or seasonal leasing agreements. It was a newer, more mixed-use approach than the venerable Soulard Market about four miles away but it was likely done in by the higher-profile Union Market that would open November 5, 1925 about 3.5 miles away in St. Louis' central business district. And what the established and new public market spaces didn’t take away vendor-wise at the Market Arcade, the Depression appears to have taken an even more significant toll.
Despite the arcade’s inability to compete against other markets, the Arcade Airdome chugged along adding sound in its 1930 season to remain viable. Steve Major of the Grand Opera House was the final operator taking it on in the 1947 season and operating to 1950. The Arcade Airdome closed some 20 years later, shuttering on August 6, 1950 with “Feudin', Fussin', Fighting” and “Family Honeymoon.” The entire Arcade Market was later demolished likely in 1961 based on the movement of the center’s remaining vendors and aerial shots of the period.
It was not on the S/E corner of Sarah + West Pine, rather about 200 feet east of Sarah on the south side of West Pine. They had wood folding seats similar to those at Sportsman’s Park but did have benches in the first 4 to 5 rows…a concession stand w/ projection room above, toilet facilities and lost/found/ofice area adjacent. The entire area was unpaved but have a compacted crushed stone surface that sloped from north to south [entry to screen] and a 10 to 12 foot high wood/metal fence on both the east and west sides. I recall attending several times during the summer 1940’s.
Bear in mind the airdomes did not have “opera seats” as inside theatres, but patrons usually sat on benches. So, even though the seating capacity may seem amplified to hardtop eyes, they could cram a lot of people into these facilities.
Indeed, the 4260 address was incorrect for Sarah & West Pine. That 1764 capacity was from the paper—perhaps they got the year of St. Louis' founding confused with seating capacities!
Here are some more airdomes: Kings, Grand-Florissant, Lindell,
Manchester, Shenandoah, Russell, Crystal, Webster, Viginia, Aubert, Cinderella, Hi-Pointe, Kingsland, Powhatan, Ozark, Melba, Retina, White Way, Ashland, American, Peerless, Mogler…and many, many more.
Correction to my above post. The seating of 604 is correct and the 1764 seating is too excessive.
I would say that JAlex has most of the statistics correct for this theatre except for the address. The 1764 seating appears correct. This was as large outdoor theatre as the spread in the address numbers would indicate. There were many Airdomes in Saint Louis. I will list a few of them for you.
Armba Airdome, Armo Skydome, Baden Airdome, North Grand Airdome, West End Lyric Airdome, Zelphia Airdome. Maybe someone could investigate these further.
Arcade Airdome operated from 1924 until 1950…one of the last (but not the last) airdome to operate in St. Louis.
Located at the southeast corner of West Pine and Sarah…at 4260 W. Pine. St. Louis Star in 1927 said it had room for 1764 patrons.
This theatre was actually called the Arcade Airdome which was an open air theatre with 604 seats. The Airdome was located at 4030-50 W Pine Blvd in St. Louis.