Built St. Louis > > East St. Louis || Crumbling Landmarks > > Majestic Theater

Majestic Theatre
240-246 Collinsville Avenue
Architect: Boller Brothers (??)

This is the building that spurred my interest in the city. It's briefly visible, along with the neighboring Murphy Building, as you speed past on the highway toward points east and west. Even as a distant, blurred image, its state of near-abandonment is readily apparent, particularly since several small trees (or large weeds) are growing out of the facade. The surprise, then, is not its emptiness, but the fact that there are still several stores operating in the building's street level retail outlets.

The Majestic Theater opened in 1928, as part of the St. Louis-based Samuel Komm Theatre chain. The theater closed in 1960. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

As of 1998, a state bill had been floated to fund the building's restoration; the building's unchanged condition since attests that the effort ended with no results.

Link: Majestic Theater at Cinema Treasures.

Link: The Majestic Theater at age 20

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