Uptown Building and Theatre

This Kansas City landmark was constructed in two stages, with the Uptown Building being completed in 1926 while the Uptown Theatre opened in 1928. In its early years, the theater operated as a movie house as well as a live entertainment venue. Several stars made appearances during the early and mid-20th century, including Shirley Temple, Roy Rodgers, and Bob Hope. In 1939, the theater deployed one of the most unique innovations in cinema history, the Fragratone system, which funneled various scents through ventilation systems to enhance the movie-viewing experience.

As the name connotes, the Uptown was the first grand theater beyond the downtown area, and it included a parking lot across the street to accommodate the increasing number of automobile owners. The rise of the automobile also led to rapid suburbanization in the decades to come, and while theater continued to show movies and live performances through the early 1970s, the business was in decline by the end of the 1960s owing to the rise of the suburban multiplex. In response, a new owner added tables and opened the Lyric Opera and the Palace Dinner Theatre in 1973. The theater closed its doors in 1989 and would have been demolished had it not been for the work of community leaders and preservationists who restored the building as one of the city's leading live entertainment venues.

Construction on The Uptown Building and Theatre transpired in two stages, with the office and retail portion completed in 1926 and the theater opening in 1928. Several noted western-movie stars such as Roy Rogers and Tom Mix made appearances at the Uptown, as did Shirley Temple. The Uptown operated as a movie house and live entertainment center from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. 

The Universal Film Company acquired the shell of the unfinished rear part of the building in 1927 and transformed it into a theater. The theater, which proved to be the city's first notable theater outside the downtown area, stood as the largest in the city's residential district when it opened. A capacity crowd saw the first movie at the Uptown on January 6, 1928. Designed by the lauded Austrian-born theater architect John Eberson, the auditorium seated 2,300 patrons in 1928. Eberson designed the interior to appear like a Mediterranean courtyard, complete with arches, columns, and sea-side views on the walls. The ceiling featured twinkling stars, flowing clouds, and even mechanical birds for a time. Universal installed a unique feature during the 1930s. A Fragratone system funneled various aromas through ventilation systems, intended to enhance the movie-viewing experience. An added attraction for a population increasingly utilizing the automobile involved the Uptown's free parking located across Broadway, 

In addition to motion pictures, the theater hosted live entertainment such as music from the Columbia-Recording Orchestra and well-known movie stars such as Shirley Temple, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Tom Mix. Bob Hope, before he became famous, also spent a week performing at the Uptown. 

The theater served as a movie house and live entertainment venue for forty-five years, changing ownership several times. In 1973, a Tulsa corporation undertook a considerable renovation of the building and opened it as the home to the Lyric Opera and the Palace Dinner Theatre. In 1989, the Uptown Theater closed its doors and then quickly fell into a state of disrepair. However, in the mid-1990s, the UGA LLC purchased the theater and started an expansive, year-long, $15 million restoration project. The renovation returned the theater to its past glory and added 33,000 square feet, including a new lobby, bar, office, and banquet space.

Krefft, Bryan. Uptown Theatre. Cinema Treasures. Accessed July 29, 2021. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/942. 

"History of the Uptown Theatre." Uptown Theatre. Accessed July 29, 2021. http://uptowntheater.com/about/.

Piland, Sherry. "Nomination Form: Uptown Building and Theatre." National Register of Historic Places. mo.gov. 1978. https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/79001374.pdf.