July 18, 2005
Urban Pic of the Day - The Melvin
Continuing the "former theater as church" theme, here we have a photo of the old Melvin Theater, complete with the original sign embedded in the brick, as well as the quite excellent Marquis. The Melvin Theatre opened in 1914 and seated 481. It opened as an indepedent theatre and remained that way until its closing in the 1980s. It only had two owners. One of the more successful of the neighborhood theatres located in the Dutch Town area of south St. Louis. Just a block away from the Yale theatre on Minnesota and within walking distance from the much larger Melba on South Grand. Even until its closing in 1979 the box office was in the inside lobby and the tickets were on large rolls hung above the cashier. The marquee had no current attraction lettering on it it just simply said Melvin Theatre on all three sides. Bill Miller bought the theatre in 1972 and it was gutted and remodeled, replacing the screen, the sound system, the seats and a new concession stand but kept that old box office with the rolls of tickets.
Here is a bit of history, taken from the Cinema Treasures website:
The auditorium had two aisles with the larger seating section running down the middle and about four seats on the side aisles. The rest rooms were located on the second floor above the lobby of the theatre.
do you know why "Melvin"
Posted by: Jim at July 18, 2005 10:17 PMThe original owner was Joseph Hallaman who named the theatre after his son.
Posted by: tom at July 18, 2005 11:03 PMThat's terrific (as long as Melvin didn't pay his college roommate to write papers and complete other assignments for him of course).
The bricked up windows on the side are interesting. I wonder if the building was something else before it became a theater.
Your photos are always also mind teasers, thanks.
Posted by: Jim at July 19, 2005 12:17 AMGreat pic! Back when I was an assistant public defender in St. Louis in the mid-80's and living on the western edge of Dutchtown I used to have the opportunity to go by the Melvin fairly regularly (often multiple times running down witnesses or otherwise investigating cases). Can't remember if it was still open by then or not. Is the building in use anymore?
Posted by: Len Cleavelin at July 19, 2005 12:07 PMLen, I do believe it is in use as a church. The sign on the side of the marquis reads "Come to Church every Sunday at 11:30 a.m.". Another note of interest as noted in the comments section of the Cinema Treasures website - It was "affectionatley" referred to as the Smelvin.
Posted by: tom at July 19, 2005 01:17 PMThat church is pretty active, although I don't know the name. They seem to have events often in the summertime at the vacant lots next door. The address, by the way, is 2912 Chippewa St. and the owner is "Inner City Ministries of St. Louis," which I guess is associated with the Berea Temple Assembly of God church located at the SW corner of Russell and Compton. They own and maintain the adjacent vacant lots as well, at the SE corner of Chippewa and Pennsylvania. The ministry has owned the Melvin since at least 1994.
It is indeed a fascinating building. And now it's part of the "Jefferson-Gravois Streetcar Suburb Historic District"!
Posted by: Joe Frank at July 22, 2005 04:19 PM