Uptown Theatre, Part III
The following information is from Ed Comber’s MAKING HISTORY column published in the Linn County Leader.
Everyone knows the Uptown Theatre was a community hub where people fell in love, owners buzzed their customers’ chairs, pageants and homeless benefits were held, and the World War II war effort was aided, but did you know it’s also an important work of architecture in rural Missouri?
Theater historian Maggie Valentine asserts that the “motion picture theatre served as a significant architectural experience for millions of people [and where] a significant architectural type, distinguished by program, emphasis, imagery, and history; one must read the building as such, as an architectural type, rooted in popular culture with its own symbolic program, to appreciate the architecture.” If you’ve ever stood across the street and looked at its façade, you can see how it fits Valentine’s description and is one of the exceptions due to its Spanish Revival architecture.
The Spanish Revival Style: External Architectural Aspects
What is the Spanish Revival style? It was popular in the United States between 1915 and 1940 and is most closely associated with the Southwestern United States. Virginia McAlester notes that Spanish architectural influence followed the Santa Fe Railroad as it extended northeast through Missouri. Sound familiar? That certainly explains why there are multiple buildings in Marceline and along the Santa Fe line that have Spanish-style architecture.
McAlester goes on to say that the range of “decorative detail found in Spain was extraordinarily diverse.” In other words, it was seen as a diverse medley of designs and styles. Thus, there is no one aspect most closely associated with Spanish Revival style architecture.
The Uptown Theatre is no exception. The Marceline News described the theater in the following way at the opening of the original theatre in 1930: “The entire front of [the theater is in] buff colored textured brick with vari-colored insets of terra-cotta.” The buff color indicates that the building is designed with one of the main characteristics of the Spanish Revival style, add in the floral designs and creatures in various configurations and you’re looking at a beautifully designed building in the style.
Furthermore, it’s a simple rectangular 3-story building in brick running bond with a rectangular plan shape and a flat, steel and stucco roof mimicking a tile roof that slants slightly between the two end pilasters, which imitate the columns typically seen in traditional Spanish Revival style homes.
While ornamentation is not uncommon in this style, the Uptown Theatre’s detailing includes urns, lions, and flowers, all of which are not typical of the style. However, ornate decorative façades with floral designs and creatures in various configurations is most representative of some 15th century Spain embellishments, so there could have been some influence from that style as well.
Nonetheless, the theatre illustrates the intention of an application of a high style commonly associated with theater buildings.
The Spanish Revival Style: Internal Architectural Aspects
What was wonderful to see when I inspected the theater last year is that its interior space retains both its original function as a theater and much of the original 1930 architecture too.
A Marceline News reporter described it at its opening as follows:
Entering the lobby [the] walls are of a textured color plaster…Flex-O-Tile…presents much the same appearance as tile or terraza [sic]…. Just on leaving the lobby stands the… foyer.
The first impression upon entering the foyer is the [carpet]. Here again are notice soft lights reflected from the side wall fixtures…. The walls are of a soft shade of tan of textured plaster with a ceiling very subdued in color… In the center of the front wall will be installed the drinking fountain of the latest design and at each end of the foyer are the retiring rooms and the ‘cry rooms.’
The first impression on entering the auditorium is of a riot of color distributed haphazardly…. The ceiling is crossed with heavy beams… Bordering the celling and around the proscenium arch is a rich design of cast ornamental plaster…
At each side of the proscenium arch are decorated plaster arched grills thru which the house will be heated in the winter. These grills are finished with the same decorative plaster…. The walls are finished in a heavy textured plaster….
If you’ve been in the theatre in the last 50 years, you’ve noticed how strikingly similar the inside is to this description. Sadly, the only things missing now are the “cry room”.
Marceline Comparisons
Per the 2018 Marceline architectural survey, the subtle influence of Spanish architectural styles is evident in several buildings in the city; however, only one other commercial building in Marceline has significant Spanish architectural characteristics. That building, built in 1900, is the former mortuary. It exhibits more traditional Spanish architectural characteristics which make it more reminiscent of Spanish Missionary than Spanish Revival.
Another building that displays Spanish architectural characteristics is the Santa Fe Depot (also eligible for the National Register), built in 1913. It is the most traditional example of Spanish Revival in Marceline and is generally reflective of Santa Fe Railroad’s corporate styling.
The reason the Uptown Theatre is so much more important architecturally than the depot is because Cantwell and Wolfskill understood it needed to blend into the commercial district without standing out very much, as the Chief would a few years later. As a result of this thinking, the theater remains unimposing and unostentatious, exuding an earthy feel that blends well with the other buildings in the downtown commercial district at the time of its erection. You’ll note that the Masonic Temple does a similar thing. Given that it was built in 1923, my guess is Cantwell and Wolfskill decided to imitate the blond buff brick look, which just happened to be part of the Spanish Revival style.
Ed is the Founder and President of the veteran-owned Midwest Preservation Group, LLC, a historical preservation company dedicated to assisting rural communities with preserving their history. For more details about the company and historic preservation, please visit the FAQ page of midwestpreservationgroup.com.
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