Senate Theater - 1911 - Elsberry, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 39° 09.933 W 090° 46.974
15S E 691544 N 4337489
Big fire in 1937 and another damaging one in 2011, but repaired and still going strong.
Waymark Code: WMVHN9
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 04/22/2017
Views: 0
County of building: Lincoln County
Location of building: 304 Braodway, Elsberry
Date building built: 1911
"The Senate is in a buff-bricked storefront on Broadway in the center of Elsberry's business district, and it has more than sentimental value.
"Sarah Hunt, who runs the town library, said records show the building has been around for 99 years and has been a theater for the majority of that time. The fire on Jan. 5 was the third time the building burned. After a blaze in 1937, which started in the film booth, owner C.W. Cannon entered the building, collapsed and died.
"In the 1950s, Edward V. Long, a U.S. senator from Louisiana, Mo., bought the theater and changed the name to Senate from Orpheum.
"When the Sinnetts took over the business, they wanted to bring in current films but keep it affordable and family friendly. They had to close the theater in 1999 when Sandra became seriously ill, but a community effort that time brought it back, too.
"Robert Sinnett was always a movie buff, so in 1974, when he heard about a one-screen movie theater for sale in a small Lincoln County town, he bought it.
"In the 30-plus years since then, he and his wife Sandra have tried to make the Senate Theatre in Elsberry more than just a business." ~ Susan Weich, St. Lous Post-Dispatch, Jan 19, 2011