Mainstreet KC at the Power & Light District

Patsy on February 7, 2005 at 7:37 pm

“The lobby area is topped by a dome encircled by circular windows.” How very unique and will look so beautiful when this Kansas City landmark is restored to its former beauty and grandeur!

eiseler on January 14, 2005 at 9:15 am

The Empire’s downstairs auditorium was never subdivided and remained intact until the end. The balcony was subdivided into 2 additional theaters, and a small screening room was carved out of some upstairs space to make up the fourth screen in the Empire complex. This screening room was at one point called “The Academy” and had a separate entrance and box office. It was reserved for art films and second runs.

The Empire continued to screen the 3-strip Cinerama process on a reserved-seat basis well into the sixties with “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” and “How the West Was Won.” Beginning with “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” the 3-strip process disappeared and was replaced with the seamless 70 mm version of Cinerama.

RobbKCity on December 28, 2004 at 3:22 am

The last two owners, Executive Hills, and (the late) Stan Durwood (local theater titan), let the Empire deteriorate for a long time. They didn’t keep it up to code, because there are small trees growing on the roof in places. The west wall of the theater space had bricks buckling and falling off, which is also a code violation.

I wrote to the mayor and all city council members to bring the code violations to their attention and demand that Executive Hills make repairs on the west wall to secure it from further damage. I pointed out that the Empire was deteriorating quickly, and it needed to be secured from weather if their was any hope of restoring it. I ended up personally meeting with two council members to discuss the issue. Within a month, the west wall had new exterior stucco covering the areas of deterioration in that wall. Yay!

It was soon after that Executive Hills started floating the idea publically about tearing the theater down. The grapevine indicated that Executive Hills was threatening demolition to pressure the city into allowing it to tear down an old department store to build a parking garage for a large office building they owned a couple blocks away. Apparently, Executive Hills had purchased the theater property with the intention of turning it into parking if they couldn’t find something closer.

The Empire has been included in two past redevelopment plans for the neighborhood. One was Stan Durwood’s Centertainment plan, and the other was another plan of Durwood’s called the Power and Light District. Neither plan succeeded, and Durwood died.

When Executive Hills indicated their intent to tear down the Empire, Some research was done and something historically relevent was found about it. This information was forwarded to the Historic KC Foundation, and the mayor. Up to that point, the mayor had indicated that she would like to see the facade saved and included in a new development, but said little else about saving the entire building.

I was told by a council member’s office that city leaders had no intention of letting Executive Hills tear the Empire down. Executive Hills didn’t end up gaining control of the old department store property. The city took it by eminent domain. I heard a deal was struck that Executive Hills tenants would have access to a new city-owned garage that would be built on that site. After the city shot down the KC Power & Light headquarters plan on the Empire’s site, I think it became evident to Executive Hills that the city would also take the theater by eminent domain if need be.

Not long afterwards, the announcement was made that Cordish would restore the Empire as part of its new entertainment district, initially called “Kansas City Live.” Cordish later decided to change the name back to the Power and Light District. The development plan has been approved by voters, and will be funded through revenue bonds, and funds from Cordish and the State of Missouri. Once the Empire is restored, the property will be owned by the city.

While restoration may cost $10 million or more, the project will be eligible for state and federal historic renovation funding, as well as state urban redevelopment money. This could pay for as much as half of the cost of restoration I’ve been told.

Mr. Cordish said in an interview recently that he wants to restore the Empire to its former glory. He does acknowledge that the Empire is in bad condition, and will be expensive to restore, but that it is worth it. He indicated that full restoration would increase its cache and value to the district at large. Cordish indicated that it’s important to restore the theater because no developer could duplicate it today.

The Empire is completely salvageable. Union Station was restored several years ago, and it was in terrible shape. There was a lot of water damage and the ceiling had collapsed in several places. Some of the steel beams supporting the roof were rusted through. The ceiling in Union Station had an elaborate design as well. They hired a restoration expert that had worked on Windsor Castle, and a lot of European cathedrals, was hired to fix the ceiling.

Any lost decorative work in the Empire can be recreated.

As far as the divider walls not being there any longer, I’m guessing they were taken down a few years back either when Stan Durwood planned to renovate it; or, during an attempt to lure a Hard Rock Cafe / Planet Hollywood / House of Blues-type club into the building. The walls would have had to come down so that any developer could have seen the potential of the entire space.

claydoh77 on December 7, 2004 at 7:55 pm

Yes, to follow up on my previous comment; according to Mary Bagley’s book on Missouri’s Theatres:

“AMC changed the name to the Empire and opened it with the movie Exodus as a reserved-seat, road-show house. The theatre retained an organist until 1961, when there was a dispute with the musicians' union. Still under AMC ownership, the theatre was split into two- the Empire and Royal- in 1969. Then in 1980 it was halved again into the Empire 4 theatres.”

USSSEAVIEW10 on December 7, 2004 at 1:57 pm

when my friend went into the theater he told me after words that it was completly wide open there was no split or divide to seperate the theater into two theaters may be at one time they did have a split but as far as he could tell there was nothing except a wide open balcony including the main floor when you the cinema room the only things that are still in there is the seat that I have to say is in very poor condition due to the damage of rain and neglect over the years but they are salvagable. there was some talk that the empire was split into four but I hardly doubt it there evidence of that unless someone could show up some pictures that could put the icing on the cake wether it was split or not.

sdoerr on November 15, 2004 at 3:33 pm

“Future Looks Hopeful for Kansas City’s Empire Theater"
http://cinematreasures.org/news/12324_0_1_0_C/

RobbKCity on November 14, 2004 at 10:55 am

Things are looking up for the Empire Theater. It appears that the city has rejected a plan that would have constructed a new headquarters building on the site for Kansas City Power & Light. It appears that the Empire will be preserved. The Cordish Co. has plans to redevelop the property into a live music venue and nightclub as part an entertainment district they are developing across the street. City officials appear to be supporting this effort, since they turned down the request of two very powerful downtown property owners and developers.

For more information, read the Kansas City Star article from Nov. 11, 2004, here:

View link

claydoh77 on August 25, 2004 at 2:43 pm

From what I’ve read in the KC Star (Article appeared on 8/13/03), the owner obtained a pre-demolition permit. Possibly wanting to raze the building for future development.

There is a lot of info & some pictures (interior & exterior) about this theatre in Mary Bagley’s book: “Front Row: Missouri’s Grand Theatres”. At the time of publishing in 1984, the theatre was still operating.

The theatre was divided and turned into a four-plex at some point & I’ve heard that a lot of the interior elements & charm are gone. It has been closed since 1985 & I personally have never been inside of the theatre, though it is a really neat building & the exterior is a downtown landmark, though it has never been given specific landmark status.

I would love to see the building saved & hope someone can do it. If I had the funds I would open a nightclub/multi-use facility as has been done with other theatres like KC’s Uptown.

sdoerr on July 27, 2004 at 6:09 am

What a nice looking theater, the facade looks untouched. How is the interior looking? Any pics?

bruceanthony on May 16, 2004 at 10:54 am

I noticed the Empire is not on a list of theatres that will be toured on the Kansas City conclave.Is there a reason why?brucec