Gillioz Theater – Springfield, Missouri

DATE VISITED:  05/23/2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Gillioz Theater

 

LOCATION:  325 Park Central East, Springfield, Greene Co., Missouri

MARKER #:  91000887

DEDICATED:  July 9, 1991

"The property has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior"

MARKER PLACED BY:  United States Department of the Interior

 

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

Dirk had wanted to show me Old town Springfield so when we traveled up that way, we took a detour. The area was absolutely deserted except for a few people hanging out at the center square. There were a couple of tourists, a policeman, and several, shall we say, street residents. One guy was doing an elaborate dance to music only he could hear.

The Gillioz was built by M.E. Gillioz, using almost exclusively steel and concrete. Gillioz, being a bridge builder used the materials he was most familiar with.

Originally called The Gaiety, it would cost $300,000 to build. It was built to take into account live performances, such as vaudeville, had a pipe organ for silent movies, and a sound system for “talkies”.

 In the meantime, and some say Gillioz has foreknowledge, Springfield was being called the “Birthplace of Route 66” and guess who’s theater just happened to be next door to the Federal Highway System with Route 66 at its front doors? Yep, the Gillioz Theater. 

The Theater opened its much anticipated doors on October 26, 1926 to a full house. There were the singers, ukuleles, and an organ concert on the huge Wurlitzer pipe organ. Next came some live vaudeville performances, and then the moment people had been waiting for…a Felix the Cat cartoon and newsreels flown in from New York City specifically for the opening night. The newsreels included game highlights from the 1926 World Series; Games 6 & 7, Cardinals versus Yankees that had just been played the night before.

And finally the evening closed with the Reginald Denney film, “Take It From Me”.

During the Depression and WWII, the theater would hold community songfests to boost morale. They held sort of an early version of American Idol where 15 girls would perform and the audience would vote for their favorite.

The Gillioz held 3 premieres during its hey-day. The first premiere, in 1938, was “Swing Your Lady” that not only starred a Springfield favorite but also Humphrey Bogart. 

 

The second and third premieres would both take place in 1952. “The Winning Team” featured Ronald Reagan and Doris Day, and “She’s Working Her Way Through College”. The first was a big even for Springfield with Ronald and Nancy Reagan in attendance.

In the 1970’s, a tarp was thrown over the pipe organ as people left downtown for suburbia. The theater would hold movies for kids in the afternoons and raunchy adult films at night. I remember my hometown theater “The Star” going through the same death throes.

The last movie show was “The Amityville Horror” on July 15, 1980 and the Gillioz finally closed its doors with a performance later in 1980 of the opera, “La Traviata”

By 1986, the homeless had moved in and were known to have barrel fires…but it is also thought that this constant human presence saved the Gillioz from vandalism.

The theater has been renovated and now holds live performances.