‘Kansas City deserves it.’ B&B Theatres to reopen Mainstreet Theater downtown
Liberty based B&B Theatres will reopen the shuttered Mainstreet Theater in downtown Kansas City.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, a Texas chain of dine-in movie theaters, closed the venue at the outset of the pandemic. It declared bankruptcy in March, the same month it announced it would not reopen the Kansas City venue.
B&B anticipates reopening the historic theater, located in the Kansas City Power & Light District, in August or September. In a Friday news release, the locally based chain said it plans to install new heated, reclining seats with wider cushions and extended legroom. It will also bring its Johnnie’s Jazz Bar & Grill concept, which features live jazz and top shelf wine, beer and cocktails.
Formerly the Empire, the 1921-era Mainstreet Theater is a downtown icon. The venue, at 1400 Main Street, was restored at a cost of $30 million in a joint venture between the Cordish Cos. and AMC Entertainment before reopening in 2008.
After AMC moved its headquarters to Leawood, Alamo took over in June 2012, offering food and drink service to moviegoers. Its six auditoriums seated more than 500 people.
B&B Theatres is a nearly century-old operation named for the Bills and Bagby families. It’s the continent’s sixth-largest movie chain with 435 screens in 50 locations. The family-owned chain has signed a lease with Maryland’s Cordish Companies, which operates the downtown entertainment district.
“Our industry has been hit hard, and our hearts go out to operators that have been forced to close locations and to communities that have been left without theaters,” Brock Bagby, B&B Theatres’ executive vice president, said in a statement Friday. “This location has been a source of excitement and optimism for us and we are so thankful to Cordish for working with us to negotiate a deal that enables us to keep this historic and impressive facility open. Kansas City deserves it.”
While B&B has several operations across the metro area, the Main Street complex will be its only location in downtown Kansas City.
“We are thrilled that B&B Theatres and the Bagby family are moving into the Power & Light District,” Nick Benjamin, executive director of the Power & Light District for Cordish, said in a news release, “and know that they will bring the best possible product to the Mainstreet Theater.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 4:39 PM.
