By MICHAEL BUSHNELL
Northeast News
March 8, 2017
Old Theater architectural enthusiasts throughout Kansas City today can spot a Boller & Boller design a mile away.
That’s because the Boller Brothers, originally of St. Joseph, later of Kansas City and Los Angeles, were known far and wide during the first part of the 20th century as some of the greatest theater architects in the world. Robert and Carl Boller designed the Garden Theater shown on this postcard, published by the Elite Postcard Company of Kansas City, Mo.
The Garden originally sat on the southwest corner of 13th and McGee streets and opened in June 1911. The 2,600-seat, vaudeville-only house was fashioned to give the impression of being in an actual garden.
Representing the exterior of other buildings, the theater’s interior was comprised of dark red pressed brick. The ceiling of the theater was colored to resemble the sky and incorporated paintings of clouds and tiny, twinkling lights to serve as stars.
The Boller Brothers firm was responsible for the initial design or remodeled designs of more than 100 theatres throughout 15 western states as their business skyrocketed to accommodate the growing legion of movie-goers in the post World War I United States. In 1920, the brothers established an office in Oklahoma City to oversee numerous theater projects throughout Oklahoma.
In 1922, Carl opened a satellite office in burgeoning Los Angeles to supervise the growing number of projects in the Southwest. Theaters throughout the Midwest built after 1920 are generally assumed to be Boller Brothers designs.
Disaster struck, however, in October 1929 when the Great Depression spread throughout the land, and in 1931 the firm dissolved. Movies and shows were considered luxuries for only the well-to-do, and theater construction all but ground to a halt throughout the Depression years. Carl Boller died in California in 1946, and Robert died in 1962 at his home in Dallas.
Examples of Boller theaters can still be seen throughout Kansas City and Historic Northeast. The Benton Theater at Independence Avenue and Benton Boulevard was a Boller design, as is the Aladdin Theater, located at Truman Road and Belmont Avenue. Others include The Granada (1015 Minnesota Ave.), The Ashland (2400 Elmwood St.) and The Gillham (3100 Gillham Road). For more information on the forgotten architecture of old show palaces, check out www.cinematreasures.org.