75th Anniversary of the Opening of Kiel Opera House and an Opportunity for Rebirth

By Rory Roundtree

2009 marks the 75th Anniversary of the opening of the Kiel Opera House. On this Anniversary, an opportunity exists to restore one of St. Louis famous landmarks.  

Kiel Opera House represents more than a beautiful building downtown. In many ways, Kiel represents the struggles of downtown.  

Kiel is a beautiful, architecturally significant building that shows the wear of the years. As you can see from the pictures below, while worn it has great potential.

Kiel also represents an opportunity.  An opportunity to further the redevelopment of the downtown area, to strengthen St. Louis’ well deserved reputation as a city with numerous entertainment opportunities, and to reclaim some of our glorious past.  

The redevelopment of Kiel is more than the building itself; it is a symbolic step in the continuing rebirth of St. Louis.

HISTORY

Kiel Opera House was designed by prominent St. Louis architects LaBeaume & Klein. It opened in 1932 as part of Municipal Auditorium complex. The complex was named the “Henry W. Kiel Auditorium” in 1943.

The original Municipal Auditorium complex was comprised of two separate parts: Auditorium and Opera House.

It was possible to use both sides at once as the stages were back to back. President Harry Truman gave a speech there in which both sides were opened to see his speech.

The auditorium was used as an indoor arena from 1934-1991. It was the home of the Saint Louis University basketball team and hosted the St. Louis Hawks from 1955-1968. The auditorium was the host of three NBA All-Star Games. In 1955, the auditorium was also the venue for the second international conference of Alcoholics Anonymous.

 Kiel Auditorium played host to a variety of rock concerts and wrestling cards from 1950′s until its closure in 1991, and in 1983, it was the host of the Miss Universe Pageant. The auditorium was home to St. Louis Symphony for many years and served as a venue for artists and performers such as Jack Benny, Neil Diamond, Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, Bob Hope, the Jackson Five, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, the Supremes, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder.

From the 1950s until the 1970s, the Kiel Auditorium was behind only Madison Square Garden as North America’s most famous wrestling arena, hosting three NWA World Heavyweight Championship title changes from 1959 until 1986.

The auditorium was demolished in 1992 to build the Scottrade Center which was completed in 1994.

The Opera House has been vacant since 1991.

PLANS FOR RENOVATION

Board Bills 57, 59, 60, 69, 70, 71 and 72 have been introduced to allow the financing for and redevelopment of the Kiel Opera House.  Several of these bills were heard yesterday and some will be heard this morning.

Some highlights of the bills:

• The renovation will cover approximately 263,000 sq. ft.
• The estimated total cost is $71.5 million
• The estimated construction cost is $43.7 million
• All renovations will be to historic standards
• The Main Theater will have approximately 3,200 seats (2,800 regular, 400 VIP)
• There will be a restaurant with approximately 300 seats
• Additionally there will be one side theater fitted for community theater (+/- 500 seats)
• VIP lounge in other upper side theater
• Enhanced 14th Street entrance
• Building exterior to be restored

BENEFITS TO THE CITY

There  are many expected benefits to the City if the Kiel Opera House is renovated including:

• Estimated 80 full time jobs with an estimated payroll of $2.8 million
• 900 construction jobs
• Approximately $840,000 added to City revenues during construction
• Expected average of $550,000 per year to City over 1st 10 years of operation
• Expected average of $100,000 per year to Board of Education
• Significant M/WBE participation (negotiations in process with 47 firms)
• Adds new cultural activity downtown
• Enhances likelihood that Blues will remain in City

If the board bills are passed by the Board of Aldermen and signed into law by the Mayor, pending bond approval, construction will start in Fall 2009 and the theater will open November of 2010.

Posted by The Core Editor on May 21 2009. Filed under Architecture, Business, Economic Development, Entertainment, Saint Louis City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.