This large movie palace was built by Thomas W. Lamb in 1927. It originally seated over 3,573 patrons and was built for a staggering $4 million -- quite an amount for a theater in Kansas City in its day.
Originally known as Loew's Midland Theatre, and part of Marcus Loew's theater empire, the theater briefly became a bowling venue in 1961 when Loew's left the theater.
In 1966, American Multi-Cinema bought the theater. A company known then for its innovations with smaller, twinned theaters now operated one of the largest movie palaces on earth.
The renamed Midland Theatre was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1977 and stopped showing movies in 1981 when it became a venue for stage shows, concerts, and other performing arts.
It remains one of the grandest movie palaces ever built in the United States and a testament to the heralded work of Thomas Lamb.
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