Majestic Theatre
View of the auditorium from the balcony.
The Majestic Theatre opened on February 26, 1928 in East St. Louis, Illinois. It was designed by the Boller Brothers for Harry Redmon and Fred Leber. The Boller Brothers were known for the Missouri Theatre in St Joseph, Missouri. The Majestic was nicknamed “The Million Dollar Theatre” due to the high costs of building the theater.
View of the main level from the side of the balcony.
The 1,743 seat theater opened with a performance from Al Jolson and George Jessel, two famous vaudeville performers. Redmon ran the Majestic for a year before leasing it to Great States Theatres which was part of the Paramount Theatre empire. A vitaphone system was installed in September of 1928, making the Majestic one of the first in the area to have talking motion pictures. It was also one of the first theaters in the area to have an air conditioning system. In 1954, a curved Cinemascope screen was installed in the Majestic. The new screen was double the size of the original, and a new projector had to be installed to compensate for the increase.
The lobby of the Majestic Theatre.
The Majestic closed in 1960 due to declining ticket sales and high operating costs. Numerous proposals were made over the years to restore the theater and some renovations were made — a new roof, new windows, and new doors were added to the theater in the 1970s, but the rest of the theater remained untouched. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and in 1998 a bill was proposed to fund the restoration of the theater, but the bill did not pass.
The seats and ornamental fixtures were removed after the theater closed.
The balcony level hallway of the Majestic Theatre.
View of the stage from the main level.
A close up of some of the plaster work to the right of the stage.
The blue tarp was placed on the balcony to help divert the flow of water from a hole in the ceiling.
The roof above the stage collapsed in the years after the theater closed.
Is it beyond saving at this point, or could some major restoration happen if the funding were there?
It’s not beyond saving in my opinion, but it would take a lot of work to restore it. However, I’m not sure if the population could support it.
Hi Matt,
Who currently owns the theater? Do you know what their plans are for it?
Robert – The city of East St. Louis currently owns the theater, and as far as I know there are no plans for it at the moment.
Good post, thanks. Hello from Russia
This place must have been charming. Great scale in architecture and cast decor. Unfortunately without a stage roof it might have two Illinois winters left before it’s beyond hope. East St. Luois is not an economic engine for the region (to put it nicely).
I think it will have a bit longer than that. The stage roof rotted away years ago, and the rest of the auditorium is still there. The stage itself has collapsed though.
Thanks for this post. I live downtown St. Louis and have always wondered what was behind the tiled facade of this theater. Love your blog!
Loved the photos. I used to go to movies here as a kid. My brother and I would ride the bus downtown without our parents when we were about 7 and 8. The town was perfectly safe and kids were everywhere. It was 25 cents for the kids Saturday double feature plus cartoons and the place was packed. Bus fare was a dime. The Wurlitzer organ from the Majestic is now the lobby organ at the FOX theatre in St. Louis. When we were a bit older, we could ride the bus over to the FOX theatre or any of the other St Louis theatres to see movies there as well. East St. Louis was a wonderful, safe middle class city until the Black Power Movement began in the late 1960′s.
I doubt that it can be saved. You can see the rear of the building from the Metrolink station at 5th and Missouri and the center of the structure has collapsed from top to bottom. Driving down Collinsville Avenue in downtown East Saint Louis is disturbing because I’m old enough to remember when this street was thriving.
Bob – I think you’re thinking of the apartment building next door to the theater, unless the Majestic has collapsed in the past 6 months.