The Shriners are those guys in the funny flowerpot hats that put on the circus every year at Busch Stadium. They also have big conventions and run hospitals for “crippled” children and children who have suffered the horrible tragedy of being severely burned. The Shriner’s history is rooted in Freemasonry. As a matter of fact, they are all advanced Masons. Their motto is Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.
Thirteen Masons organized the first Shrine Temple in New York City in 1872. They named the temple Mecca. The most notable symbol of Shrinedom is the distinctive fez that all Shriners wear to official functions. The hat derives its name from the city of Fez, Morocco.
The old Moolah Shrine Building sits in the Mid-town neighborhood of St. Louis. The neighborhood is not far from the Grand Avenue Theatre District, the St. Louis Symphony, and Fox Theater. It’s sort of Off Broadway by the St. Louis mini Great White Way.
The Temple was built in 1912 and was the home of the Shriners formed by a charter from the Medinah Temple out of Chicago. After 76 years of occupying the Temple, the Shriners moved to a new location in West County. The building sat vacant for 15 years until a local developer purchased the building in 1988. They had planned to open offices there for e-business. Those plans fell through and the beautiful historic building was slated for the wrecking ball until the owners of a group called Restoration St. Louis came through and bought the building.
After an estimated $17 million in restoration work, the Temple building was finished beautifully in 2002 into a 500 seat theater complete with leather sofas and chairs, a customized bar and lounge, an eight lane bowling alley, and 40 spectacular loft style apartments.
Nearly two years ago the theater opened to take advantage of a national trend towards the movie-on-a-couch theme. The idea was that people would leave their houses to watch first run movies in the comfort of their living rooms.
There’s no doubt that people love the idea of the couches, but the way things have been going, the owners may just have to start looking for some spare change in the cushions. The owner, Harman Moseley, who also owns the quite successful Chase Park Plaza Theater, says that the going has been rough for the Moolah Shrine. But he says that the Chase, which is a luxury single screen theater in a restored historical hotel, struggled for the first couple of years it was open as well before becoming a moneymaker.
The Moolah has become a destination place, a place to end up after a dinner and a date on the weekends. The problem right now is the lack of business during the week and the fact that the Moolah is one of the very few remaining single screen movie houses in the area. The Hi-Pointe in Dogtown, whose future is uncertain, and the Lincoln over in Belleville, Illinois are the only other two remaining. With a single screen, it’s boom or bust, depending on the movie.
There are some other concerns too. The overhead is higher because more people are needed to staff the theater. The only parking is in a lot behind the building and it costs two dollars to validate the ticket. And, believe it or not, some people shy away from the leather couches because they think that they will be dirtier than the regular seats. Moseley also acknowledges that he needs to sell more concessions. The art-movie crowd gets a water, while the action movie goers order a big tub of popcorn and a giant drink.
Like the drive-ins, single screen movie houses may be on their way out, but they all seem to offer a unique movie going experience that’s far greater than going to a 20-screen multiplex. So, if you can’t afford to have a home movie system in your basement, the Moolah Theater is definitely the next best thing!
